Hear Me Roar
by A. Zap
Summary: To survive in the Horde, you had to think three steps ahead. So even though everything's going according to plan, she is prepared when Hordak himself tries throwing a wrench in things. After all, she knew he'd eventually figure her out. And Catra's plans end up changing everything. Though Adora's not sure she can handle it herself. Femslash February Day 14:Redemption
1. Chapter 1 - Be Prepared

Chapter 1 - Be Prepared

Catra walked quickly down the corridor. No one questioned her or attempted to stop her. Sometimes there were advantages to being the second-in-command. A lot of advantages. And Catra took each one as far as she could.

"Is everything ready to move out?" Catra asked as she entered the hangar.

"Everyone is present and ready to go!" Scorpia replied with a sharp salute, the grin on her face betraying her excitement.

"Including Entrapta?" Catra couldn't help but ask as she glided over to the overlook and leaned on the railing.

"Yep! She's all packed up and ready to move out."

Catra hummed in response as she looked out at the sight below her.

An entire battalion, about a third of the Horde's forces, were armed and ready to go. Tanks, carriers, supply vehicles, runners, motor bikes, Entrapta's special mobile lab, all of them were fueled up and on standby. Each member of the battalion had been handpicked by Catra. She'd sought each of them out, tested each of them in her own way, and she'd found that all of them were the exact people she needed for this task. Surprisingly, her old squad mates were included, but even Lonnie and Kyle had proven that they had a place here.

Catra smirked.

Everything was going according to plan.

Entrapta swung up onto the overlook by her hair. "Everything's all set!" She clapped her hands together. "Ah! The things I will be able to do! Who even knows?"

Catra snorted a bit. "Well, hopefully you."

Entrapta paused. "Hmm, you do have a point, but even I don't know the full extent!"

Catra and Scorpia shared a fond look. Unfortunately, it was time to get back to work.

"Alright, Scorpia." Catra glanced at her. "Send the signal to start moving out."

"Can do!" Scorpia saluted again and reached for the signal and -

"Commander!" The voice snapped out behind the three.

Catra frowned and turned, studying the soldier coming up to her.

He wasn't one of hers.

"Yes?" She raised a single eyebrow.

The soldier pursed his lips but wasn't deterred. "Lord Hordak has requested you in his chambers."

Scorpia and Entrapta stiffened on either side of Catra, but she didn't even twitch. "I'm about to lead my troops out. The plan has already been approved."

"He said it cannot wait." The soldier was sweating, and his hands trembled as he brought them behind him. It was almost funny how scared he was considering he was probably twice Catra's age.

Catra noted that he was already well above the average age of a Horde soldier.

"Alright. I'll be right there." Catra nonchalantly said with a roll of her eyes, ignoring the softs gasps from Scorpia and Entrapta. "Just allow me to get things moving here and I'll be up."

"Of course, Commander!" The soldier saluted and quickly hightailed it out of there.

The moment he was out of ear range, Scorpia turned to her, her pinchers fiddling with each other. "Catra…"

Catra looked out once more on her troops. "Send the signal; we can't afford a delay."

Scorpia's face crumbled slightly. "But…"

"Catra." Entrapta appeared serious for once. "Given what we've just been told, the statistical likelihood shows that - "

"Don't tell me the odds." Catra snapped slightly. Upon seeing her words had no effect other than making them deflate slightly, she sighed and reached out to take one of their hands each. "We've worked far too hard and too long for this. Move everyone out."

They both gave her a long look. Then Scorpia reached out and activated the signal.

Below there was a flurry of movement as people got fully settled for the long ride ahead and vehicles started up. In no time at all and with perfect Horde precision, the battalion started rolling out.

Catra let go of the others' hands and faced the activities down below again, her fingers now curling around the overlook's railing. "Go."

Entrapta nodded with a surprisingly grim look and flipped her mask down, but her silence as she swung down onto her mobile lab spoke more than any words could.

Scorpia hesitated once more. "Are - are you sure you don't want one of us to stay?"

Catra chuckled. That was the first time someone had asked to stay. "I'm sure."

"Okay." The soft clanks indicated that her orders were being followed.

"Scorpia?" Catra heard her pause, her own ears flicking back towards her. "Stick to the plan. If I haven't joined you within a week, proceed without me."

Hesitation filled the air, but Catra refused to look back.

"If that's what you want." The words were even quieter than Scorpia's last, but she was finally moving away. Within moments, Catra watched her hop on to a tank passing below, easily taking command, in Catra's stead, of the whole battalion.

Catra smiled. She'd come a long way since they'd first met.

For a moment, Catra searched through her feelings, waiting for a familiar pang to hit her upon seeing her two… friends… leave her behind. She expected to feel indignation and pain once more over such a similar scenario.

To her surprise, she felt… relief. And assurance that they would do what they had to.

"So this is the difference when it's actually my choice." Catra mumbled to herself, leaning back for a moment and closing her eyes.

Because it was her choice. After all, there had been a few other times when she'd ignored what Hordak wanted and did what _she_ wanted instead. Luckily, her results had always been good enough that it had turned out fine.

Besides, it was just as well that she had chosen to stay behind this time.

She had some final business to take care of before she could join her troops.

Catra took a deep breath and let it out in a whoosh.

Then she opened her eyes and turned on her heels to walk further into the Fright Zone. The hangars, naturally, were on the outskirts of the Zone. Hordak's tower and center of operations was, of course, in the center, with both his work and personal chambers being in the highest rooms of the Zone's tallest tower. By the time Catra made it to Hordak's tower, her battalion was already beginning to disappear over the horizon, to lands that weren't covered in perpetual smog and glowing red.

Catra did feel a quirk of jealousy over that. One of the best benefits of being a commander was that she was usually able to leave the Zone as she pleased, but it seemed that would have to wait for now.

As the elevator took her to the top, Catra again took a deep breath and composed herself. She had to be in total control when she faced Hordak. He hated it when people were overly emotional. She would have to be prepared to deal with whatever problem he had with an unusual amount of stoicism for her.

Then again, she'd grown used to it.

"You needed me for something?" Catra asked as she entered and kneeled before his throne.

"Catra." Hordak's usual monotone gave nothing away. "How goes your plans?"

"Everything is proceeding as planned." She reported. "My troops have already left and are approaching their destination now."

"I see. It sounds excellent."

"Thank you."

"But is this truly for the betterment of the Horde?"

Catra froze where she was still bent over, her eyes snapping open and widening. Slowly, she looked up at Hordak. "Whatever do you mean?"

She saw now that he had been turned away from her, looking at a monitor showing the path that her battalion had taken to get away. However, as she watched, he faced her. "What I mean is," he stood up from his throne, staring down at her, "if your plans are going as you intended, do your plans align with those of the Horde?"

Catra stared at him. "I don't know what you're talking about." Her voice was as dry as a desert.

"Really? Do you?" At his words, his creepy little pet emerged from the shadows to hop up onto the armrest of the throne to curl up. Catra narrowed her eyes at it until he spoke again. "Catra, I believe you are smart enough to know not to play dumb."

She was.

She had thought she'd been careful, always checking to make sure Hordak's pet wasn't around as she had gathered her people, made her plans, kept such tight secrecy that only Scorpia and Entrapta knew the full extent of the plan. Most of the troops had the general idea of what they were doing, but only those two had known the real reason for why it had to be now.

Her troops, her people, were all of the members of the Horde who wanted to leave. And the easiest way Catra had thought of to do it was to walk right through the gates on a supposed mission.

Catra dropped the facade as she stood up. "Is this really a surprise?"

Hordak hummed. "Not truly. It was clear that you never quite believed in our purpose, but I had hoped to utilize you for a bit longer."

"You mean until you could try to use me as leverage against Adora?" Catra rolled her eyes.

It had been quite obvious once she'd adjusted and gotten used to the fact that really only one person could touch her now. It hadn't made sense otherwise. After all, she could understand wanting to get rid of Shadow Weaver, she'd practically revelled in her fall from grace, but promoting someone who'd recently graduated from cadet to Force Captain and all the way to second-in-command, no less? There had to be more to it than the fact that she'd done more to get them closer to their goals than anyone had in years.

The members of the Horde tended to be young, but Catra just knew that there were soldiers among them who had much more real combat experience when she first started as his second and could make a half way plausible plan.

When she had figured it out, she'd almost laughed out loud. Even when Adora was gone, Catra's fate in the Horde was still inexplicably tied to her.

Though, she could see the intelligence behind the plan. Adora was a big enough sap to fall for it.

"How astute of you to notice." Despite his words, the way he folded his hands told Catra how displeased he was to be found out. "You know I always thought it would be her that would turn you against me."

Catra couldn't hold back a snort at that. It was true that at one point she had based her life decisions on Adora; it's why she had remained in the Horde even when Shadow Weaver made her life a nightmare.

But that had ended the moment Adora left.

"Still, I wouldn't have expected this." If Catra didn't know better, she would almost say that Hordak was smiling. "Children, Catra? That's what it takes to betray me?"

Catra tried so hard to still herself, to suppress her reaction, but her hands still curled into fists.

The Horde lost soldiers at a surprising rate given the technology at their fingertips. The rates had gone down since Catra had taken over as second-in-command but the fact remained that no one lived long in the Horde. At least not the same length of time as an immortal queen and power-filled princesses. And with losses, new soldiers had to come from somewhere.

She hadn't given the orders for it, but recently, she'd been informed that she would be in charge of overseeing the training of the "recruits." Ones that had recently "decided" to join.

They were literally children stolen from their homes.

Catra had always suspected as such. Sure, wars produced plenty of orphans, but as many to fill the barracks of her childhood? With such ease as well? Maybe some of them were abandoned and orphaned, but not all of them could be. And none of them could ever remember what came _before _the Horde. They were simply told that they had been saved, and in gratitude, they would serve.

Catra had looked at the kids that she was apparently supposed to mold into good little soldiers and seen herself, a younger, less jaded version, staring back.

And she couldn't do it.

She and Adora may have been on the polar ends of how bad things could be for recruits, and she had realized that Adora had had her own troubles as well, but all recruits and cadets had it bad in some way. Catra had just received the worst of it at the hands of Shadow Weaver.

Catra refused to be like her.

And it had been easy to hide all of the recruits and cadets among the hustle and bustle of a full battalion and its supplies heading out.

"I've noticed that all of the recruits and cadets are missing from their facilities, but no matter." Hordak continued, glancing back at the monitor. "It'll be simple enough to collect them back along with the traitors you've collected. You've just made it easier to identify who should be punished for their heresy."

Catra slipped a device from her pocket to her hand. "You think?" She pressed the trigger.

_Ba-Boom!_

The shockwaves of multiple explosions rocked the building with their force and sound. Hordak stumbled a bit as he practically ran to his monitors. Catra almost admired the displays' visuals of the infernos that had developed in a good portion of the Fright Zone's hangars and weapons factories. She was glad that she had borrowed half of Entrapta's explosives as well as ordered most of the remaining soldiers, the ones she knew actually preferred being here over anywhere else, to return to their chambers after her troops left. Most should've been kept out of the crossfire.

She watched realization dawn on Hordak's face. "You…" He snarled, and it was the most emotion she'd ever seen on his face.

"It might be hard to pursue my troops when you have so few vehicles and weapons on hand to assist you." Catra deadpanned, becoming more calm the more agitated he got.

"I gave you everything you wanted, and this is how you repay me?!"

"Not everything." She muttered. "And you were just using me." Just like she had used him and her new position.

His armor glowed slightly, but he appeared to calm down a bit as he stalked his way down the stairs from his throne. "You're certain this isn't because of She-ra? This seems like the sort of action she'd condone."

Catra resisted the urge to roll her eyes again, but the annoyed noise that slipped out was answer enough.

Why did everyone try to make this about Adora?

Adora was naive. She hadn't seen what the Horde was like when atrocities happened right in front of her nose until people from outside the Horde had pointed it out. She'd then been naive enough to leave and think that other people wouldn't pay for it, namely Catra. Adora couldn't really see the big picture or play the long game. She charged right ahead in all she did as soon as she got an idea in her head, without much thought on whether there was an easier or simpler way forward.

It's easier to change something from the inside rather than the outside. And when you survive long enough and gained a position of power, it became even easier.

Catra had tried to tell Adora that.

After all, just look at what she'd been able to do as second-in-command.

"You will pay for this, you know."

Of course, Catra knew. To survive in the Horde, you had to think three steps ahead.

Admittedly, she didn't know how this part of her plan would turn out.

Catra fell into a fighting stance.

"Bring it."

She leapt into battle.

* * *

_AN: So this is the first chapter of Catra's redemption arc. This chapter is from her perspective, but most of them are actually going to be from Adora's perspective, with Catra flashbacks throughout (probably). Just sort of the way I imagine her redemption arc really kicking off. I'm not quite sure how long it'll be but I've got a basic outline of how I want to write all this. However, I won't be able to return to this to work on it until Femslash February is done at the very least, so please be patient if you want more. By the end though, I do hope for Adora and Catra to become closer again._

_It's gonna take something big to make Catra change sides. I know a lot of people are banking on something happening to Adora that will make her switch, which is fine, but I kind of want it to be for something else. I mean, clearly Adora still has a huge effect on her, even if she doesn't want her to, but I want her redemption to be for her and her own reasons (after all, you can't really change unless you actually want to)._

_Something I noticed while watching is that usually, as long as Catra isn't the cause, Catra always starts to reach out to those who are in pain in front of her. She did it for Scorpia and Entrapta (though I will admit that as she was sympathizing and mildly projecting on them both, there was a smidge of manipulation), before Adora left she did it for her, and we've even see her reach out to help Shadow Weaver, freaking Shadow Weaver, when she was in pain. Also, according to the character quiz, while Catra presents "a tough exterior, deep down [she has] a heart of gold."_

_So if she was put in a position like Shadow Weaver was where she had to train/punish little kids who act as "recruits" like she was (or actually collect them), I'm not sure Catra would be able to do it. Usually, it could be argued that those she attacks have it coming (whether through personal betrayal or simply siding with the Rebellion/enemy), but kids? Nope, I don't think so. And considering how she took Entrapta and Scorpia under her wing, I think she'd just want to take care of them. So I decided that while Catra would try to change things as second-in-command, and seek out those who like her would really like to leave the Horde just in case, there would come a point, in this case the kids, where she would realize that she can't change things fast enough. And I think Scorpia and Entrapta would be on her side._

_Anyway, those are kind of my thoughts and what this fic is basing the redemption on._

_Later note: Obviously this is now a big canon divergence due to what's happened since I wrote this, but I'm still pulling for a Catra redemption in canon._


	2. Chapter 2 - Waiting for the World

Chapter 2 - Waiting on the World to Change

It was quiet.

Too quiet.

It had been quiet for the past week.

And Adora was about ready to tear down some walls over how the quiet made her skin crawl.

Because it was just… weird. Well, that was one way to put it.

It seemed like usually she and the others were jumping from one incident to another, putting out the fires of the Horde wherever they cropped up. And it was usually continuous. Maybe they'd have a few days reprieve but sooner rather than later another Horde scheme would become apparent and the cycle would start again.

Now it had been a week.

Since Adora left, she couldn't remember having so much time between battles and missions.

She scowled as she walked down the corridor, grateful that no one was around to see her and get anxious at her expression. Her appearance would just make people think that something was wrong, and technically there wasn't.

Well, except the fact that there had been no signs of the Horde for a whole freaking week!

Adora groaned as she finally reached her room and flopped on her bed, leaning her sword against its side. Her hands twitched, itching to take her sword and do some more drills, but she knew that if she went back out to the training field to practice, Bow would inevitably show up and give her those sad, pleading eyes while telling her to relax while they still could.

Stars, if they could weaponize those eyes, the Horde would never stand a chance.

Plus, he'd bring up the fact that she had already spent most of the morning there. Maybe she could go later this afternoon, but not until she gave the impression that she had relaxed enough.

Adora frowned harder and flipped over onto her back. Because thinking of Bow's sad eyes and the Horde brought forth a whole slew of other thoughts.

Even before this weird blank week, Catra hadn't been seen on the battlefield for almost a month. Normally, she made an appearance at least once a week, gloating over plans and drawing Adora away from the action. It worked every single time to Adora's dismay, but she couldn't help it! Still, she would never admit it out loud, but it always reassured Adora whenever she caught sight of those ears and tail or that manic grin. It was always a sign that Catra was still alive.

Catra not appearing either meant something had gone horribly wrong or she was plotting something big.

Adora didn't know which was worse.

But wait! She was trying to relax!

Adora snapped her eyes shut and wiggled to get herself more comfortable. Relax, relax, relax, re-

_Slam!_

"Adora!"

"What? What is it? Where?" Adora jumped up and grabbed her sword, instantly scanning around for a threat.

Her gaze eventually fell on Glimmer, who gave her a sheepish smile as she took her hand off the door. "Sorry…"

Adora sighed and lowered her sword. She supposed that she should be grateful that Glimmer at least used the door this time instead of teleporting straight into the room. "It's fine." She ran her hand through her hair. "I'm just a bit on edge."

"Aren't we all?" Glimmer grimaced. "It's been so… quiet."

"You've been worried?" Adora's eyebrows raised up. She hadn't been able to tell.

"Well, yeah." Glimmer pulled her down so they'd sit next to each other on the bed.

"You didn't seem like it." Adora wondered if this was why Glimmer and Bow had been so adamant about taking a break. The only problem was that Adora was terrible at relaxing.

Back at the Horde, there was never any time for what the people here would call relaxing. There had only been training, more training, even more training, hanging out with Catra -

She stopped that thought right there.

"Yeah, but there's no point in freaking out over it. We'll figure out what they're up to eventually. And then we'll stop them!" Glimmer assured her, punching up into the air with a grin.

Adora chuckled.

It was nice to know that she wasn't alone in this fight at least.

"Guys! Guys! Guys!" Bow burst into the room. "Uh, you're not gonna believe this!"

"What?!" Glimmer popped up, teleporting to Bow's side and giving the corridor a suspicious look.

Wow, and Adora had thought that she was jumpy.

"What is it, Bow?" She gave him a smile as she stood up.

"Uh, well, you see…"

Adora and Glimmer both frowned at his hesitation.

"Scorpia and Entrapta are here!"

Adora froze for a moment.

This was it.

Finally, the other shoe had dropped.

Adora should not feel as happy as she did at this moment.

"Glimmer!" Adora called out as she grabbed her sword.

"On it!"

"Wait! They're - " But what Bow was saying got cut off as Glimmer teleported them to the front gate.

Adora leaped forward, sword at the ready, but then she stopped in confusion.

" - not attacking! They're here to negotiate a truce!"

And that wasn't even the weirdest part of this whole thing.

Quite frankly, Adora had been expecting an entire army, an attack similar to the Invasion of Bright Moon. Instead, it just appeared to be a single squad, her old squad in fact, with Entrapta and Scorpia at the head. Entrapta looked the same as always, but no one else wore their usual uniforms. Actually, Scorpia was the only one wearing something similar to one.

Scorpia was wearing a black uniform rather than Horde red. It had the same cut as her old uniform, but where the Horde's symbol would've been attached to her via her Force Captain badge there was a new badge instead. It was a simple thing, silver, showing a broken circle surrounding some sort of flower.

Actually, now that she looked, all of them were wearing that symbol, even Entrapta, though the rest of the squad were in what looked like… normal clothes. Clothes they would choose for themselves, neither red like the Horde nor black like Scorpia. But the gleam of the same badge came from Lonnie's belt, Kyle's leg, Rogelio's chest.

What really drew Adora's attention though, even as she took all of this in, was the white flag in Scorpia's claws.

"Hey ya!" Scorpia waved at them with a bright smile. "We're here to negotiate."

Adora could only stare at them all, completely gobsmacked. Bow and Glimmer looked equally shocked, even with Bow having been aware of the situation.

What in Etheria was going on?

Luckily, someone still had their wits about them.

"And why should I believe a member of the Horde?" Queen Angella touched down in front of Adora, her arms crossed and her expression stern.

"Probably because we're not part of the Horde any longer." Entrapta fiddled with her welding mask. "That at least should push the odds of successful negotiation into a favorable place."

Adora blinked. "You're what?"

"We defected!" Scorpia said, and stars, how could she be so cheery all the time? It was disconcerting.

The queen hummed a bit, studying the small group. There was only the small squad and though Scorpia and Entrapta could be a problem, Adora had no doubt that She-ra could take them, especially with everyone else's help. And if it turned out to be a trap, it wouldn't take much to summon the rest of their allies here. She wasn't quite sure what the queen's decision would be.

"Very well." Queen Angella turned to lead the way in. "You may enter."

Glimmer appeared at her side. "Mom, are you sure? They're - "

"I know, Glimmer, but you cannot win wars on fighting alone." Adora followed her gaze to where Scorpia and the others were high fiving each other. "And they do seem relatively sincere."

Glimmer grumbled, but the queen raised her hand.

"And this isn't the first former Horde soldier that's attempted to ally with us." Adora looked away at her knowing glance. "We'll at least hear them out."

Adora grimaced, giving these supposed former soldiers a searching glance.

There was still something off about this.

* * *

"We are currently calling ourselves the Defiant." Scorpia explained from her place at the negotiation table. "And this is our symbol, I came up with it myself. I'm a bit of an artist, you know." She beamed with pride.

"I chose the flower. I've been researching flora in my free time and thought it was appropriate." Entrapta chimed in.

"I see." The queen steepled her fingers as she looked between the two. The princesses were both seated at Bright Moon's planning table with the rest of the squad standing behind them while Adora, Glimmer, Bow, the queen, Netossa, and Spinnerella were at their usual spots. "Would you tell me what exactly you are doing? What is your purpose?"

"Oh, right." Scorpia straightened and became the most serious Adora had ever seen her. "The Defiant are made up of former Horde soldiers. We managed to lead a mass defection of a good chunk of soldiers, more than an entire battalion's worth."

"An - an entire battalion?" Queen Angella blinked rapidly at her. It was better than Adora's reaction as she just stared slack jawed at them.

The Horde's army wasn't as large as it might appear. They'd always used a lot of robots and technology to compensate against the rest of Etheria's sheer numbers, but they managed to use their smaller numbers effectively.

Somehow getting a whole battalion to defect and doing it successfully? That was just unreal.

"We've currently set up our base at Dryl, thanks to Entrapta's generosity." Scorpia gestured at her fellow princess. "We plan to fight against the Horde."

"Well, mostly," Entrapta cut in, "we're not going to make anyone fight if they don't want to. And while a lot of our number do wish to fight, many are going to take this opportunity to do literally anything else and we're going to let them."

"Yeah, exactly." Scorpia nodded her head in agreement. "Anyway, we plan on mostly doing our own thing, but we figured that it would be best to talk things over with you and make sure we weren't stepping on each others' toes as it were. Besides, common enemies and all that, right?"

Adora narrowed her eyes.

All of this sounded almost too good to be true.

Especially from these two.

She hated to say this but it was almost _too_ smart for them to have thought all this up.

Scorpia was an excellent fighter, but she tended to be scatterbrained even on the battlefield and Sea Hawk once managed to fool her into thinking he was someone else by just changing his hairstyle. This whole plan seemed too complicated and thorough for her, though the sentiment certainly seemed on par.

Entrapta was smart, but she often got wrapped up in her projects and interests, forgetting about everything else. Or any potential consequences to her actions and projects. It had appeared that the Horde was like a land of dreams for her with their bountiful tech, so it didn't make too much sense for her to want to leave, as well as to bring others with her.

"And how did you leave in the first place?"

"Oh, that was easy. Catra just made it seem like we were all leaving to attack Bright Moon."

"What?!"

Adora didn't even realize that she had spoken until everyone turned to stare at her. She also belatedly realized that she was standing, but that didn't matter in the face of this revelation. "Are you saying that _Catra_ planned all of this?"

It's true that this level of planning and preparation was within Catra's skill set, but Catra actually being behind this?

Sure, she'd never seemed to really believe in the Horde and its mission in the past, but Adora had thought that had changed. Catra had seemed so gung ho to fight on the Horde's behalf on the battlefield.

"Yep!" Scorpia replied anyway to Adora's question.

"Surprisingly, most people within the Horde do not like being part of the Horde." Entrapta supplied. "However, most make no efforts to actually leave due to the use of fear and the few previous examples of what would happen if you left and then were caught. The She-ra was the first to successfully leave without being recaptured in over a decade."

"However, Catra had the idea that if a ton of people left at once, and we made it look like they were leaving for a routine mission, it'd be a lot harder to stop." Scorpia squealed a bit, her arms waving in excitement. "Isn't she just amazing to think of something like this?"

"Catra found, screened, and gathered all the members of the Horde who genuinely wished to leave, and then she used her position to make it so we could leave." Entrapta gestured with her hands. "You may have noticed that she's been absent from the battlefield lately; she's been working on this so it could go off without a hitch."

Silence fell as the members of the Rebellion digested what they'd been told.

Adora knew that she was still having a hard time wrapping her head around it. Sure, the ingenuity behind it, the cautiousness of screening everyone she took with her, all of that sounded like Catra. But saving other people? Trying to get as many people out as possible?

Catra had never really cared about others, much less ensuring that they were safe. Why would she do this?

"Catra?" The queen said the name like she was testing it on her tongue. "Is she not the person who kidnapped Glimmer and Bow?"

"I helped with that, too! But it was Catra's idea."

Adora wondered if Scorpia was even capable of telling a lie.

"Then why isn't she here? If this was all her idea." Glimmer brought up, crossing her arms. "Why, is she too _scared_ to face us?"

Now that Glimmer mentioned it, that was a good point. Surely Catra would love to gloat about pulling one over Hordak. Adora frowned and sat back down as she noticed Scorpia and Entrapta exchange a tense look.

Queen Angella noticed it, too. "Well, my daughter raises a good point. Where is this Catra if she is indeed your leader?"

They were silent again and exchanged another look. Finally, Scorpia spoke up. "Just as we were moving out to fulfill our plan, Lord Hordak summoned Catra into his chambers to meet with him."

Adora stiffened, taking a peek at the others to see them just as wary.

"At such a junction, it would have been more suspicious if she hadn't heeded his call. And we needed time to get a clean getaway." Entrapta continued, the tips of her hair coming up to fidget with each other. "It's been a week, but she still hasn't shown up."

A week. Everything aligned with this past, weird week.

"And you decided to come here without her?" Queen Angella raised an eyebrow.

"Proceeding with the plan and securing this alliance for the benefit of us all is more important." Scorpia looked down, her worry clear on her face. "Catra said to continue without her if she hadn't shown up in a week."

The worry that Adora had been feeling for her former friend bubbled up despite her best tries to suppress it.

A week without even Scorpia or Entrapta hearing from Catra? Last being seen in the company of Hordak? This did not bode well.

"Are you sure she didn't just betray you to Hordak and that's why she isn't back?" Glimmer asked as she leaned back in her seat, obviously not impressed.

Adora winced. She knew that Glimmer did not have the best impression of Catra, but that seemed a bit harsh.

Scorpia looked appalled. "Excuse you! Catra is an excellent friend! I'm sure she's making her way back to us at this very moment."

Entrapta nodded. "Catra has shown traits of incredible loyalty to those she considers her friends. She would never betray us."

Adora felt as though someone was stabbing her in the heart.

"Well, as long as you didn't betray her first," Scorpia tapped her chin. "If you hurt her first, she feels she's well within her right to retaliate."

Another stab.

"Yes, she does have some, what would you call them…" Entrapta thought for a moment. "Oh! Crippling abandonment issues!"

Yet another stab.

Adora wondered if they were doing this on purpose.

"Anyway, neither of us fall into that category, so I'm sure she'll show up." Scorpia concluded. "And I'm sure she'll be glad that we already have everything squared away when she does!" She gasped. "Maybe she'll even let me hug her!"

"I see…" The queen lowered her hands, ignoring Scorpia's final comment. Her face was scrunched up as she thought things over. "Well - "

"Your majesty." A guard interrupted her as she burst through the door. "There's an envoy from the Horde awaiting at the gate."

Every eye turned to Scorpia, Entrapta, and their entourage.

Entrapta blinked and rubbed her chin. "Well, this is an unpleasant coincidence."

"Not us!" Scorpia shouted, raising her claws in surrender.

Glimmer leapt up from her seat. "You _were_ trying to - "

"My queen, I do not believe it has to do with the supposed defectors." The guard continued, cutting through the tension in the room and bring the attention back to herself. "They have asked for She-ra."

It was Adora's turn to blink. "Me?" She dumbly pointed at herself.

Queen Angella sighed. "We better go see what they want."

In mere moments, everyone had made their way back to the gates and Adora couldn't help but see the parallel for when Scorpia and the others arrived. Except in this case, most of the group were wearing the steel gray armor of a common Horde soldier and they were led by a familiar Force Captain dressed in red and standing at attention.

"Octavia." Adora identified her first, scowling.

"Adora." Octavia sneered, her expression stretching the scars over her right eye from when Catra "pranked" her when they were kids. "Though I guess it's traitor now. You had such potential." Her eyes raked over the others as well, raising an eyebrow at the sight of Scorpia and the others. "Oh, and the rest of the traitors are here as well. Guess that saves me time tracking you down."

"What do you want?" Queen Angella stepped in between the two groups, imperiously staring Octavia down.

Octavia chuckled. "Oh, nothing with you… for now. As for the traitors, I have a warning." And with that, she took her hands from behind her back and tossed something at them.

They tensed, expecting a grenade, a bomb - some sort of weapon. But as Adora registered what it was, she couldn't help the gasp that escaped her lips, mirrored by the ones from Entrapta and Scorpia.

Without even realizing what she was doing, Adora's sword lowered and she took a shaky step forward. And then another and another. Until she was standing in front of the item Octavia had thrown.

An all too familiar object.

"All traitors to the Horde will be found and punished for their betrayal to Lord Hordak."

Adora sheathed her sword on her back before crouching down to pick up it up with trembling hands.

She could still remember the first time she saw it, clean and gleaming with a polished gloss. It had always been worn with pride.

Now she could feel the grit of dirt on it and a red powdery substance came off on her hand.

Dried blood.

"Your leader Catra is already dead."

Adora held Catra's head guard in her hands, tears gathering in her eyes as the full implication of what this meant hit her.

"And soon, you will be, too."

* * *

_AN: As I said last time, this fic is actually going to mostly be from Adora's perspective, with probably a few cuts to Catra's POV about what happened at the Horde. At least until the end. We've already got the big points of Catra's redemption, the why and the what she's doing to achieve it, out of the way, so this is looking at the effects of her turning to redeem herself._

_And don't worry too much about stuff. I can't help but feel that characters who have to die to be redeemed only do that because there's no way they could fully redeem themselves while alive. Those who live and continue to work to redeem themselves are a much more interesting story, so Catra will eventually return. I'm going to be taking some elements from my research into the original She-ra to provide more details for it. You'll probably figure out what's happening before the characters do._

_Also, Catra wanted to call their forces the Avengers, since they would be getting revenge on the Horde either by fighting back against them or living well in their own lives, but Scorpia and Entrapta shot her down. The flower in their symbol is a gladiolus flower. I wanted a flower that meant to symbolize defiance, but gladiolus seems pretty close as it represents integrity, persistence, and strength of character. And the broken circle is meant to represent them breaking the cycle that they'd been forced into at the Horde._


	3. Chapter 3 - You're Gonna Miss Me

Chapter 3 - You're Gonna Miss Me (When I'm Gone)

Adora didn't notice when Octavia and her squad left with her cackling at them all.

Adora didn't notice when Glimmer and Bow helped her up and led her back into the castle.

Adora didn't notice as the negotiations started up once more, the former Horde soldiers a lot more subdued, especially Scorpia and Entrapta.

All she noticed was the head guard in her hands, Catra's blood dried on it in streaks and splatters.

Catra was dead.

She was -

The thought just wasn't computing.

It had never seriously occurred to Adora that Catra could die.

Logically, of course, she knew it was a possibility. Everyone died eventually. Catra was no exception.

However, Catra was a survivor. No matter what, she pushed through everything and survived. She survived their childhood, which Adora had realized was a lot worse than she originally thought. She survived on her own after Adora left. She survived as she climbed up the ranks, and she managed to survive every battle that she took part in.

It was why, even as Adora worried over her whenever she hadn't seen her in some time, she had never really thought that she could be dead.

And yet…

Adora could feel her breath become labored and her eyes burn. She couldn't break down, not now, not over -

"Pathetic."

Adora froze.

The tone familiar, but this wasn't the voice she usually heard that declaration from.

"Seriously, if someone had told me back in the Horde that Shadow Weaver's protegè could be so pathetic, I would have laughed in their face."

Adora twitched.

"And to think, you're practically crying over _Catra_ of all people? Are you serious - "

"Shut up!" Adora snapped. "Don't talk about her like that." She wrenched her head up to glare at the speaker.

Lonnie looked way too satisfied with herself.

Adora now didn't notice how everyone stopped and stared at the two.

"What? About Catra?" Lonnie snorted. "I'm pretty sure I can say whatever I want about her."

Adora's grip tightened on the head guard. "Shut up." She growled.

"Uh, Lonnie…" It sounded like Kyle tried to step in, but someone shushed him. Adora barely even registered it, her focus only on the head guard in her hands and Lonnie's face staring her down.

"Or what? You gonna cry on me?" Lonnie crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Look at you. How the mighty have fallen."

Adora's hands trembled again.

"Your time with the princesses has made you soft. You can't even stick up for someone who was your supposed best friend! Back at the Horde, you would've already put me in my place."

Adora grit her teeth.

"And Catra would say the exact same thing if she were - "

The numbness and despair of moments before were gone. All that was left was unbelievable rage.

How dare she say something like that!

"I said," Adora leapt up, her right hand letting go of the head guard and winding back, "shut up!" She punched Lonnie in the face.

Or she would have if Lonnie hadn't caught her punch. Adora blinked in shock, eyes darting between her fist in Lonnie's hand and Lonnie's face which smoothed out from a sneer into a triumphant smirk.

"There you are. Done moping?" Lonnie pushed Adora away, settling her hands on her hips. "Because we've got work to do."

"Wait…" Slowly, the dots connected. "You did that on purpose?!" Adora screeched.

"No, duh. You _were_ kinda useless while you were in shock. We need you actually here if we're going to move forward with anything." She leaned back and tapped her chin. "Especially if we want to figure out this Catra situation."

Adora stared at her. "Lonnie, what do you mean figure this out? Catra is - she's - I mean, Catra's - " Adora tripped over her words. She couldn't bring herself to say it out loud.

A lump formed in her throat just at the thought of it, threatening to choke her.

"Pfft. You actually believe that?" Lonnie rolled her eyes before stopping and studying Adora's distraught face. "Oh, wow. You actually believe that. I thought you were just reacting to the thought of it, but you actually believe that." She seemed almost astonished. "I never realized you were that gullible."

Adora narrowed her eyes, but luckily, Glimmer spoke before she could. "What do you mean by that?" Glimmer asked, placing her hand on Adora's shoulder in support.

"Are you kidding me?" Lonnie looked around the room. "What's the number one thing that the Horde taught us?"

There was a short confused pause. All of the former Horde members glanced at each other, trying to see if someone actually knew the answer.

"Power helps you get what you want?" Adora guessed.

"It is highly unwise to trust anything Shadow Weaver says?" Entrapta offered.

"Oh! If your rations are moving, don't eat them!" Scorpia raised her claw as if waiting to be called upon.

"Everyone's always going to blame me when things go wrong?" Kyle looked away and rubbed his arm.

Rogelio just shrugged.

"Okay, very valid points all around." Lonnie pinched the bridge of her nose. "But what I was looking for was, 'Don't count your corpses before they're dead on the ground.'"

There was a collective 'oh' of realization as her words sank in, but Adora was still trying to see how this was connected.

Beside her, she faintly heard Bow whisper to Glimmer, "That's the kind of stuff they teach in the Horde?!"

Oh, if only he knew…

Actually, it was probably better that he didn't know, Adora didn't want to be responsible for scarring Bow for life.

Meanwhile, Lonnie must have noticed her continued confusion. "Ugh," she sounded tired, "this whole thing was for you. Obviously, they wanted to demotivate you by flaunting the death of your old best friend in your face."

Adora flushed at her words. She couldn't deny how… dull everything had been, how gray and bleak and uninteresting everything had been when she heard the news. All she had been able to focus on was Catra and all the what ifs and could've beens there had been and how she hadn't been able to save her. She'd probably still be like that if Lonnie hadn't purposely antagonized her. Even now, she could feel the cold numbness that came at the thought of Catra's fate creeping at the edges of her being, but this conversation gave her something else to focus on.

"So it raises the question." Lonnie's eyes passed over everyone, as if asking each of them in turn. "Wouldn't it have been a lot more effective if they'd thrown her actual body at her?"

Complete silence. Adore finally looked around herself and noticed the horror on each person from Bright Moon's face, but the former Horde members…

They all looked thoughtful.

"Hmmm." Scorpia hummed. "She does have a point. They are mean enough to try something like that."

"And Catra has proven before that the She-ra's state of mind can have an effect on how powerful she is." Entrapta tapped her chin with her hair. "Plus, she had her suspicions that a situation like this was part of why Hordak kept her close."

"Exactly!" Lonnie pointed. "Now, this isn't a guarantee that Catra's alive, but it makes a strong case for it."

"It's worth looking into, at least." Entrapta nodded, before flipping her mask down and wiggling her fingers. "Someone get me my mobile computer!"

Adora frowned at her, even though she was glad that the attention was off of her as everyone gathered around Entrapta instead. Could she really afford to be so nonchalant at this junction of the negotiations? They were still on pretty thin ice.

"You really weren't listening earlier were you…" Glimmer leaned in, a slight frown of her own on her face.

"What? I was totally listening!" Adora protested quietly, despite knowing that she really had not been in the best of states earlier.

"We've come to an agreement. We're willing to work with each other to fight the Horde." Bow told her. "And they also wanted help with locating some families or something?" He tilted his head to the side. "Don't know why they'd need that, but it wasn't too big of a deal."

"Ah." Adora colored. She really should have been able to pull herself together without Lonnie's assistance, especially when so many important things were going on.

There was a crash in the distance followed by Lonnie and Rogelio running out. Obviously, someone had made the mistake of sending Kyle to get the equipment.

Adora's gaze traced their path before settling on the queen as she took her leave along with Netossa and Spinnerella. She still felt somewhat surprised that Queen Angella had agreed to the alliance, but part of her was glad that she was offering them a chance. After all, she had given Adora a break, so it was only fair that she extended it to the others as well.

It only highlighted once more for Adora how different things were here compared to the Horde.

Once Lonnie and Rogelio helped Kyle get Entrapta's computer, it didn't take her long to set things up. "Alright, let's get cracking!" Entrapta cracked her hands and it was almost like her hair formed hands as well that cracked each other at the same time, then immediately got to work, pulling up text boxes on the three screens her mobile computer had and typing rapidly.

"Uh, so what are you doing?" Bow asked, leaning over and studying the screens.

"Well, first I figured we'd see what's going on in the Fright Zone. I'm activating one of the drones they use for security sweeps. I set up subroutines so I could access them whenever I want." Entrapta flipped her mask up and grinned. "And we are in!"

Camera footage popped up on one of her screens and she blinked in surprise. Everyone still in the room blinked along with her.

"Oh, my." Scorpia lifted her claw up to her mouth.

Adora stared at the screen.

Half of the Fright Zone was smoking ruins. As the drone swept over the land, Adora took note of the areas that had been targeted. The Fright Zone was not in the best condition even on its best days, but now it looked like two thirds of the hangers had been completely destroyed along with their contents. Not only that but it looked like the factories for producing weapons and vehicles had taken a huge hit too. Not anything that couldn't eventually be rebuilt and fixed, but enough to effectively cripple the Horde temporarily.

"Well, that explains why it took a whole week for them to come after you." Lonnie muttered, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, but what could have caused… all of this?" Glimmer gestured at the widespread destruction. "Are you trying to tell me Catra did all this?"

"Ah!" Entrapta tapped her fist on her hand. "I was wondering why Catra borrowed those bombs!"

Adora turned her gaze towards Entrapta and she knew she wasn't the only one.

"You… let Catra _borrow_ some bombs?" Bow asked. "That could do all this?"

"To be fair, this was ages ago before we even started planning our daring escape." Entrapta waved his concerns off. "I think she said something about blowing up the Sea Gate at the time."

Adora got the feeling that Entrapta wasn't registering how terrified all of the Rebellion members were about that, but she shook it off as there were more important things to discover.

"But what about Catra? What happened to her?" Adora hoped that she didn't sound as desperate as she felt.

"Hmmm. I just have to find an access port and go through the backlogs of security footage to last week…" Entrapta succeeded with each task as she outlined her plan. The security video on her screen reversed with a push of a button. "Now, there are no security cameras in Hordak's chamber, but maybe if I can get the right angle through a window - "

"There!" Adora pointed at a screen, where it showed Catra bursting out of a window and onto a balcony.

"That would be it." Entrapta pressed play.

Adora gripped the back of Entrapta's seat. Maybe now they'd get some answers.

* * *

_Catra bit back a groan as she burst through the window, automatically rolling as she landed on the balcony Hordak used to survey the Fright Zone so she ended up crouching on her feet to continue facing Hordak. Her hand fluttered to her side briefly._

_She didn't think she'd broken a rib, but _something_ had gotten bruised. Luckily, it wasn't enough to deter her from this fight. The scratches from the broken glass and bruises from their previous exchanges were also easily ignored. So instead, Catra glared at Hordak._

_He didn't even look phased as he calmly stepped through the broken window._

_She knew Entrapta loved the stuff, but First One tech was just unfair. Between the Sword of Protection and Hordak's armor, it always seemed to end up biting her in the butt._

_Catra fully extended her claws and threw herself back into the fray._

_But every scratch was deflected, every punch was caught. Hordak was infuriatingly placid about the entire thing._

_She knew he was probably too strong for her to defeat on her own, and that wasn't the point of this particular battle anyway, but if she could wipe that smug look off his face, then she'd consider this a victory._

_And as she used her momentum to swing herself around his punch to kick him in the face, she smirked. Now she had him._

_Hordak growled, his expression finally changing, and grabbed her by the leg to hit her right in the face, the full might of his armor behind the punch._

Ow.

_Catra fell halfway across the balcony. She blinked her eyes rapidly, trying to keep blood from flowing into her eyes. She hissed as she brought her hand up to her head, not even noticing the clatter of her head guard falling to the floor._

_Stars, her head hurt. It was hard to think, but she distantly wondered if her skull itself was broken. The blood and her pounding brain certainly gave her that impression._

_"__Give up yet?"_

_Catra scowled. "I'm just getting warmed up!" She growled as she stood back up again._

_No matter what happened, she always stood back up._

_And if she wanted to get out of here, if she wanted to see her friends again, if she wanted to live, she had to keep fighting._

_So she did._

_But she knew she couldn't keep this up forever._

_Her wounds were accumulating, and she was getting tired. Her head wound especially was hindering her movements as it slowed her thoughts and blood dripped into her eyes._

_It was inevitable that she would slip up._

_She didn't see the blade emerge from Hordak's armor until it plunged into her side._

_Catra gasped, stumbling back._

_Hordak chuckled._

_She had never heard him laugh before._

_And she didn't like it now that she had._

_Catra clutched her side, trying her best to stem the flow of blood as she slowly back up to put some distance between them. Even still, she glared up at Hordak._

_"__This is the end." Hordak took his time as he stepped up to her, assured in his victory. "Prepare for your punishment."_

_Catra snorted, and she tasted blood. "I don't think so." However, she paused as her feet came to the edge of the platform. She glanced down, the wind whipping her now freed hair around._

_"__You don't have a choice." He told her, seeming too pleased with himself. "You'll be the example for all who turn against me, and your little minions will soon follow."_

_Catra stared him down, and whatever he saw in her eyes made him stop in his tracks._

_She smiled, her grin full of teeth._

_"__There's always a choice."_

_And then she took one final step back._

_Catra fell._

* * *

Adora gasped, wide eyed.

No way. No way Catra had just -

She held onto Catra's head guard even tighter than before.

Adora felt both Bow and Glimmer grab her arms tightly, and she leaned into their embrace. She needed it.

Part of her felt stupid to have even hoped for a moment that Catra could have survived, that she was alright.

Even Lonnie looked morose and she'd never really liked Catra. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked down. "Well, I guess that settles that…"

"Indeed." Entrapta tilted her head slightly as she studied the final image on the screen.

Adora looked down and she could feel the tears building once more. Her lips trembled. _Catra…_

"No wonder it's taking her a while to catch up."

_What?_

Adora frowned over at Entrapta. What was she talking about?

"Oh, she looked like she was pretty hurt..." Scorpia fretted. "I hope she treated those…"

"Uh, what?" Bow was the one who asked what they were all thinking.

"Well, those kind of injuries probably aren't helping her as she tries to come back. And she does have a tendency to downplay her wounds as she prefers trying to take care of them herself without bothering anyone." Scorpia pouted at the screen. "I just hope she took care of them properly."

"Catra can be sensible when it comes to her own survival, so she probably treated them." Entrapta's hair gave Scorpia a comforting pat, even as she gave a thoughtful hum and steepled her fingers. "Still, we should most likely make efforts to look for her. It appears she could use some help."

"What are you…" Adora looked between the two. "Did you even watch the video?"

Scorpia and Entrapta exchanged a look, and then Entrapta raised an eyebrow. "Did you?"

"Those wounds were pretty bad!" Adora burst out, and she felt a burning in her eyes once more as tears welled up. "And even if it weren't for them, she fell from one of the highest buildings in the Fright Zone! There's no way she could - "

"She survived." Scorpia said, and there was no trace of doubt in her voice or face. "Catra always finds a way to survive, so there's no doubt about it."

"Before she fell, Catra had what I have categorized as her 'plotting face.'" Entrapta turned away to start packing her mobile computer back up. "And despite having a clear idea of where she fell, the Horde _still_ didn't seem to find a body, so obviously she got away."

_Oh._

Adora gasped a bit.

She'd been so wrapped up in what she had seen that she hadn't even thought of what they'd already discussed before. She hadn't thought of the situation like that at all, or recognized the expression on Catra's face. Had… had she forgotten so much of Catra's stubborn nature?

Scorpia and Entrapta had such faith in Catra, they were so sure she was alive.

Adora frowned.

Had she ever had such faith in her?

As Scorpia and Entrapta chatted away, discussing where they could start the search, Adora held Catra's head guard close.

As quick as it had been dashed, hope tentatively began to bloom once more.

Maybe for once she would actually have faith in her former friend.

* * *

_AN: So I know we haven't seen too much of her, but Lonnie seems like the type of person to cut right through someone's BS. I could be way off, but given how she's been just with Catra, I could see her being the person to kick someone back up when they're moping and not helping the situation._

_Catra's not as dead as the last chapter's cliffhanger may have made it seem. Like I said, I don't really like redemption via death. If you want redemption, you have to want it and work for it. Though it may be a while in canon from what's been spilled about upcoming episodes. I guess we'll see how effective Catra is as a villain._

_And it was while writing this that I realized that if anyone does turn from the Horde, whether it's Catra, Scorpia, Entrapta, or really anyone else, it would be pretty hypocritical of Bright Moon to not accept them like they have been trying to do with Adora. They may make exceptions for Scorpia and Entrapta as they're princesses, but like, the reason they started trusting Adora was because they saw how she never really knew anything better, and that speaks for pretty much all members of the Horde. I guess we'll see what happens if it does go that way._


	4. Chapter 4 - What's New Pussycat

Chapter 4 - What's New, Pussycat

Adora loved her friends but there were some things that they just didn't get.

It had been a couple weeks since the Defiant had arrived at Bright Moon's doorstep and things were finally settling down into a new routine. Once Entrapta had set up her communication system, Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio had returned back to Dryl and were working with some former Captains there to run things while Entrapta and Scorpia continued the negotiations, because while Dryl was a great resource for tech, it did not have much else going for it and it now had to support more than a battalion of people now, and coordination for future plans.

Adora had been surprised at just how smoothly things had been going. Of course, the most heartwarming part had been when Perfuma had gotten wind of the two staying at the castle and had made a point of stopping by to reunite with Entrapta. Adora hadn't realized it but part of why Entrapta had stayed with the Horde was because all evidence had pointed to them abandoning her there. Perfuma's tears and apologies had quickly revealed the truth, and Entrapta had accepted her entreaties with a smile.

Their reunion had left a bitter taste in Adora's mouth though, even with as happy as she was for them. They made apologies look so simple.

And Catra still hadn't turned up.

Scorpia and Entrapta were leading the search in their own ways. Entrapta had several drones on the lookout, while Scorpia had organized several search parties to seek out their friend. The other princesses in the alliance had been informed of their latest allies, and Glimmer had begrudgingly asked them to keep an eye out for Catra as well.

But there wasn't even the slightest trace of her anywhere.

Adora tried to cling to hope, but it was just _so hard_ when there was nothing to really go on. People said that no news was good news, but all this lack of news was doing was raising Adora's anxiety to new levels.

Bow was a lot better in trying to reassure her. He liked to see the best in everyone, and his sympathetic ear made him a great friend to turn to. Plus, he hated the thought of anyone hurting unnecessarily, even an enemy, or in this case, a former enemy.

Glimmer, on the other hand…

It wasn't that Glimmer didn't care. She cared, Adora knew that… but only because Adora cared about Catra.

Glimmer didn't like Catra.

It was somewhat unfair and yet fair, Adora couldn't help but feel. After all, Glimmer didn't really _know_ Catra, and sometimes her tone when talking about Catra made it sound like she was judging her perhaps too harshly without knowing all that much about her. At the same time, Catra hadn't exactly made a great first impression and she did kidnap Glimmer and hand her over to Shadow Weaver.

Which brought Adora right back around.

Adora loved Bow and Glimmer, but they just didn't completely get her connection with Catra and why she wanted to find her.

And that's why she was taking a walk through the Whispering Woods, just to have some alone time to clear her head.

And this walk would probably last a lot longer than she had intended as she was, once again, lost in the woods.

Adora stopped and squinted at a nearby bush. She would swear that she had already walked past it twice. She groaned as she finally leaned and slid down a tree and held her head in her hands.

Why was it that every time she entered the Whispering Woods, she ended up getting lost?

For supposedly being the Rebellion's best ally and protector, it sure seemed like it enjoyed tormenting her.

Adora groaned again before rising to her feet, shaking off her melancholy. She'd gotten out of here before and she could do it again, she just had to persevere.

A rustle in the bushes made her pause though. Adora glanced around, seeing no signs of hostiles, but she still cautiously drew her sword. Another rustle prompted her to hold it at the ready.

Movement directed her eyes towards a particular patch of brush.

Her breath caught.

A pair of eyes, one blue and one gold, stared back at her.

Adora lowered her sword, eye widening. "Cat-"

They moved.

"Kyaah!" Adora screeched, falling back as a brown blur came at her. She grunted as she fell hard and groaned yet again as a weight fell on her chest.

But it was… much too light to be what she had thought.

Adora blinked up at the creature on her chest. It stared right back with those much too familiar eyes.

She had no clue what it was.

It was fairly small, its body smaller than a loaf of bread. It was obviously some kind of mammal, covered in different shades of brown fur with some mix other colors mixed in. Those different colored eyes were situated between a small triangular nose and pointed ears atop its head.

It was also very fluffy.

The creature was giving Adora a look of utter disdain, as if she were the stupidest person in the world, and it just felt so, so similar to -

Somehow, the creature reminded her of Catra.

Except smaller.

And fluffier.

"What?" Adora struggled to sit up, eventually forcing the creature to slide into her lap. How could something so small and light be so hard to move? "How - what - "

"Sweetie, this isn't the time for sulking." A voice called through the woods, making Adora jump while the creature just flicked its ears back towards the noise. "I know you're frustrated, but - oh, Mara, dearie."

Adora blinked up to see Madame Razz, who was tilting her head at her. "Madame Razz?"

"Ah, Mara, I see you've met my friend." Madame Razz grinned and gestured at the creature, before directing herself at it. "See, I told you that the woods will lead you where you need to be."

The creature gave an annoyed rumble, and Adora jumped again. "You - you know what this is?"

Madame Razz frowned at her. "Now, Mara, I know you've seen a cat before."

"A cat?"

Madame Razz hummed. "Yes, you were quite close to one before if I do recall." She clapped her hands. "Anyway, you're just in time to join us for tea."

"For tea? Thanks but I really should - " Adora lifted the… cat off her lap, earning a baleful look in the process, and proceeded to get up.

"Nonsense! Nonsense! Come along, dearie!" Madame Razz waved away her concerns and turned to lead the way, and the cat carefully picked its way behind her.

"But I'm sure it's way too far for us to…" Adora's voice trailed off as Madame Razz swept aside some brush with her broom and revealed her home.

Had that been there this whole time?!

"I've made your favorite, Mara!" Madame Razz quickly set up tea outside and handed Adora a cup.

Adora politely sipped at her tea, though she was grateful to have something to soothe her throat after her long walk. She didn't really say much, since Madame Razz could carry on a conversation perfectly well by herself. And Adora knew from previous experience that she wouldn't offer any wisdom easily, no matter how much she pressed.

Instead, Adora studied the cat. The cat got its own treat which it had quickly gobbled up, and now it was cleaning its paw and ears with its tongue.

Every move, every gesture it made, brought Catra to her mind.

Adora wilted a bit.

She'd taken a walk to get her mind off Catra and somehow she managed to find the one creature in Etheria that was exactly like her.

"You should go together."

Adora jerked back up and noticed Madame Razz staring at her with her head upon her hands, unflinching knowledge in her gaze.

"Take her home." She said, turning towards the cat, who sent a glare in return. "Now, now, don't give me that look. I know you can."

"Uh, no, I don't think I can." Adora flailed a bit, though she took note of Madame Razz's use of her. It must be a girl cat. "I don't even know if I'd be allowed to - "

"You're hurting."

Adora flinched at her words.

"You both are." She looked back and forth between her and the cat. "Time can eventually heal the physical, but the mental? The emotional?" Madame Razz barked out a laugh. "Those tend to need a bit more than just time. I think you need each other."

Quicker than a flash, the cat was gone from the rock and instead at Madame Razz's side, her front paws on Madame Razz's knee as she brought her face up to hers and meowed softly.

"Don't argue with me, sweetie. I know you've enjoyed your time here." Madame Razz extended a gentle hand and scritched behind her ears, earning a soft purr in return. "You need more than I can give you."

A different sort of rumble. If Adora didn't know better, she would say the cat was pouting. But that'd be ridiculous.

Still, the sweet affection and care between the two melted away Adora's worries for some reason.

"Fine. I'll take her home." Adora set down her empty tea cup.

"Excellent!" The high energy old lady that Adora knew was back as she clapped her hands together. "She doesn't need much as she can fend for herself and she tends to wander a bit, but I'll be happy to know that she can come home to you, Mara!"

"I - I don't know how to get back though." Adora rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.

"No worries, that's why I told her to take you home!"

Adora paused. "What?"

"She knows the way, don't you sweetie?" Madame Razz crooned to the cat.

It suddenly occurred to Adora that she'd been talking to the cat pretty much this entire time. She flushed at the thought.

And the cat looked way too smug over this as if knowing her realization, even as she got up and began sauntering towards the edge of Madame Razz's clearing.

"Uh, thanks for the tea!" Adora called back, quickly standing and waving goodbye as she followed the cat.

"Of course, dearie!" Madame Razz waved back before turning away and mumbling to herself. Adora couldn't hear her, but she knew that it must have been something insightful. Either that or crazy.

She couldn't really concern herself any more with Madame Razz as she instead concentrated on following the cat. It was like she was purposefully being difficult, walking along hidden trails before leaping from tree to tree, and then slinking into the shadows, causing Adora to momentarily panic over losing her guide, until she popped up once more with that satisfied look on her face.

Adora could've sworn that she heard a familiar laugh as a whisper on the wind, but she brushed it off as wishful thinking.

Even if this little cat reminded her of her missing friend, there was a big difference between Catra and this creature.

Still, even with the cat's shenanigans, it took a lot less time for them to emerge from the woods. Adora sighed at the sight of Bright Moon's castle, and picked up her pace. However, she paused as she noticed her small companion was no longer at her side.

Adora glanced back and saw the cat sitting on a rock at the wood's edge, studying Bright Moon with narrowed eyes. Her tail whisked back and forth, but otherwise, she didn't move.

Adora blinked and walked back before crouching down to the cat's level. She didn't know what was causing the hesitation, but Madame Razz had implied that she should take care of her. "Hey."

The cat turned to look at her, and it somehow seemed a lot more aware than an animal should. Like it could actually understand her.

"It'll be alright." Adora told her. "I'm sure if I ask, you can stay." She reached out to pet the cat, like she'd seen Madame Razz do, but stopped as the cat flinched slightly at her approach. She curled her fingers up and pulled her hand back. "We'll look after each other, okay?"

It was as if the cat rolled her eyes at her before she delicately picked herself up and hopped down, primly leading the way as if it had been Adora who had been hesitating.

Adora snorted. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. You're only doing this because you want to." But she still followed the cat down to the castle.

The guards didn't even bat an eye at the cat's presence, and Adora took the lead once they were inside, figuring that with how long she'd been gone she should probably check in with Glimmer and the others.

Adora smiled a bit at how the cat peered around at everything, taking it all in. Occasionally, she'd stop and sniff at something, but she always caught up to continue by Adora's side.

It was kind of cute now that she thought about it.

Finally, she found Glimmer, Bow, Scorpia, and Entrapta in one of the lounge rooms. Glimmer was on one side of the room pouting at Scorpia, Bow, and Entrapta, who gathered around one of the tech genius's devices, but she perked up at the sight of Adora. "Adora!" She disappeared and reappeared at her side. "You're back…" She had noticed the cat, who rumbled ominously at Glimmer. "What's this?"

"Uh, a cat?" Adora offered. She would've thought that Glimmer would know what a cat was. She usually was more aware of the animals and niceties this world had to offer.

Scorpia jumped up and gasped. "Kitty?" As soon as her eyes fell upon the cat, her entire face lit up and she rushed over. "Kitty!"

"Uh, I don't think she really likes getting picked up…" Remembering her reaction from earlier, Adora tried to warn Scorpia about a negative response.

But Scorpia just scooped up the cat and cuddled her close with absolutely no problem. She cooed as she buried her face in soft, fluffy fur and all Adora could do was stare.

The cat looked almost resigned to her fate, begrudgingly accepting Scorpia's affection without even a flinch in protest.

Adora felt a zing of something zip through her heart, but she didn't know what it was as she looked over at the sight.

Bow and Entrapta wandered over and were just as enchanted with the cat as Scorpia was. The cat gave a warning growl at Bow, but she accepted Entrapta's pats as the genius started listing different cat facts in an effort to reverse Bow's crestfallen expression.

"So, where'd you get the cat?" Glimmer asked, sliding up next to Adora.

"Madame Razz was quite insistent." Adora supplied, not taking her eyes off the cat as she tried to identify that hot feeling.

Glimmer hummed. "Well, you'll probably be allowed to keep it. I mean, we were allowed to keep Swift Wind around."

"Right." Adora distractedly said, when it finally hit her as the cat began to purr like someone she once knew.

She was jealous of Entrapta and Scorpia.

Over a cat.

What was the world coming to?

* * *

_AN: So originally this chapter had two parts to it, and I'm still not done with the intended second part, but I realize that the two parts have totally different feels to them, so it'd probably be fine to just turn them into two different chapters. I'll post that part once I'm done, so hopefully it'll be here sooner rather than later._

_Also, for this story, I'm kind of playing a bit with powers and backstories that I've learned were part of the original series as well as incorporating some theories that are currently out there. We'll see how it works out._

_On the plus side, for this chapter I looked at a lot of pictures of fluffy cats to try to get the right look for the cat. If you want a good idea of what she looks like, I'm basing her on Ragamuffin and Maine Coon cats._


	5. Chapter 5 - I Try

Chapter 5 - I Try (But It's So Hard to Believe)

Luckily, she was allowed to keep the cat, and it didn't take long to adjust to her new roommate.

The cat, dubbed Fluffy by Scorpia, tended to be wary over any gestures of affection that Adora tried to give her, shying away each time, but she liked Adora well enough and would curl up on the end of her bed each night. She seemed to love Scorpia and Entrapta the most, as oftentimes when Adora went to search for her she found her curled up near the two, just seeming to bask in their presence or allowing Scorpia to spoil her. Fluffy had even warmed up to Bow within a few days, delighting him by letting him pet and coo over her.

The cat hated Glimmer though.

And it seemed the feeling was mutual.

If it was possible to have a rivalry with an animal, Glimmer had somehow managed to form one.

"That cat knows exactly what she's doing." Glimmer fumed as she had been forced to take a different seat than her usual one as Fluffy had claimed the one right next to Bow. "I don't know how but she does."

"It's just a cat, Glimmer." Adora told her yet again, not looking up from the report she was reading. It looked like the Horde was finally beginning to move towards something, but she wasn't sure what.

"Are you sure?" Glimmer glanced over.

"Pretty sure."

"You say that, but I know this is the first cat you've ever met."

Adora sighed. "Bow told me that this is just how cats are."

To be honest, Adora sort of agreed with Glimmer. There was an intelligence behind the cat's eyes that was uncanny, as if she knew something that they didn't. But Bow had told her that was just a cat thing, and given Glimmer's animosity with the cat, she wasn't about to admit her own qualms to her face.

Glimmer groaned, already moving on. "Ugh, and I have to meet with Mom over securing another alliance."

"Don't let us keep you." Adora gave her a smile. Despite her complaining, Adora knew Glimmer loved how involved she was now. She felt she was finally making a difference, and Adora could relate to that. "Go have fun; let me know if you need help."

Glimmer returned the smile. "I will." She disappeared in a shower of sparkles and Adora heard her feet pitter-patter out in the hallway.

Bow looked up from petting Fluffy and started. "Oh, shoot, I said I'd help Glimmer. Wait up!" He leapt up to follow her, which left Adora with…

Scorpia.

Scorpia chuckled at Bow and Glimmer's antics before turning back to her own paperwork over some trade negotiations. At a plaintive mew, she lifted a claw to replace Bow in the petting department.

Adora studied her from over the top of her paperwork.

She hadn't had much one on one time with Scorpia. She'd been aware of her back at the Horde, but she hadn't met her until they were on opposing sides, and she hadn't really gotten to know her until now.

One thing that had always struck Adora was how… opposite Scorpia was to everything the Horde was. She was very similar to Bow in a lot of ways: she was kind, cheery, helpful, and she loved cute things.

And somehow, in Adora's absence, she'd become Catra's closest friend and confidant.

And Adora _knew_ how difficult that was to achieve.

"Do you have a question?"

Adora jumped, but Scorpia just threw her a kind smile.

Adora colored at being caught, but she decided to just say what had been niggling at the back of her mind. "How's the search been going?"

Scorpia's face fell and she turned her attention more on the cat. "Not well." She said, giving the cat another good pet before sighing and dropping her claw. "There's no sign of her anywhere. We thought we had perhaps found a trail that led into the Whispering Woods, but," she cracked a small, sad smile, "you know if she made it there then it's going to be impossible to find her. Unless she lets us."

Adora chuckled a bit. "Or the woods lets us."

Scorpia laughed at that. "I'm pretty sure Catra would make it more difficult to find her than the woods. She's stubborn like that."

Fluffy meowed, drawing both their attention. She placed a paw on Scorpia's leg and when Scorpia leaned down closer, she softly nuzzled her face against her. Scorpia giggled.

Adora pursed her lips and tried to ignore the sting of jealousy she felt. After all, cats were supposedly capricious creatures that no one could truly control.

Still, the cat had been entrusted to her and she refused to touch Adora. Not even when Adora brought her treats.

"I'm not too worried though." Scorpia admitted, smiling at Adora as she finally looked back up. "Catra will turn up eventually, probably when we need her most. She's kinda dramatic like that."

"How can you be so sure?" Adora hated that she had to ask. However, the more time passed, the harder she found it to believe that Catra was alive, much less coming back.

Scorpia hummed as she leaned back, though she made sure to resume petting Fluffy. Adora didn't think she was going to tell her anything, but finally she did speak. "Catra doesn't like to leave people behind."

Adora felt a sting that she knew wasn't jealousy at her words. "Yeah?" She tried not to sound too interested, but she knew that her hands had curled into fists.

"Yeah. She pretty much told me herself when she first asked me about all this." Scorpia gestured around them. "Leaving and all that."

Adora tilted her head at her words, something that had been bothering her for a while coming to the surface. "How did that even come up anyway?"

Scorpia hummed again and tapped her chin. "Well, it all started a while back ago…"

* * *

_"__Scorpia, do you even like being here?"_

_Scorpia looked from the troop movements that Catra had asked her to look over to see Catra herself lounging across several pieces of equipment, staring at her and her tail twitching._

_"__Well, you're here, so yes!" Scorpia grinned. She was always happy to spend time with Catra, even when Catra made a show of not wanting to. She'd realized long ago that it was just Catra trying to protect herself by convincing herself she wasn't as invested as she was._

_Catra frowned. "That's not what I meant." She sat up even as she looked away. "I mean, do you like it here at the Horde?"_

_"__Oh." Scorpia thought about it for a moment. She didn't usually think about her position in life. "I mean, it's okay, I guess. I can't remember much before my parents handed me over to Hordak along with the Black Garnet."_

_Catra blinked in surprise. "Your parents _gave_ you to the Horde?"_

_Scorpia hummed her response as she looked down. "Yeah, it was their way of trying to make peace with the Horde. I told you they crash landed in our kingdom and we gave them shelter, right?"_

_Catra looked like she was thinking deeply about something and Scorpia let her take her time. Despite what some seemed to think, Catra was smart, and Scorpia knew that when she had something cooking, it was best for her to sort things out herself._

_And Scorpia was willing to give her the time she needed. Catra was unlike anyone she had ever met in the Horde. Most people would constantly berate her for being optimistic or snarl at her whenever she started rambling with her stories and reports. Catra never did that. She took everything in stride, she actually seemed to listen to her, and she always made sure that Scorpia knew if she did something she didn't like and explained how not to do it._

_Catra was, surprisingly, one of the kindest people she had ever met._

_"__Have you ever wanted to leave?" Catra asked, though even as she said it, her eyes were wary, flitting away from Scorpia to study the shadows and corners of the room._

_That made Scorpia pause. This was dangerous talk, and everyone in the Horde knew to be careful of the shadows, even if Shadow Weaver had fallen from favor._

_Scorpia thought back to when she was a little girl, to the lonely nights when she had thought about her parents' decision and the duty she had to fulfill as the Princess of the Horde rather than the Princess of the Sands._

_"__Once upon a time," she admitted quietly, because somehow she knew it was safe to tell Catra, "I did."_

_Catra's tail lashed back and forth and she hopped down from her perch to stand across the table from her. She leaned forward. "You're not alone in wanting to." Her voice had dropped to the softest of whispers._

_Scorpia couldn't help the gasp that escaped her lips, and she found herself glancing warily around herself._

_"__There are so many here that do." Catra smirked in that devious way that meant she had a brilliant plot in the works. "And I think we could all get out of here."_

_"__Really?" Scorpia blinked in shock. "Are you sure? It'd be pretty tough getting out depending on how many there are." She wanted to believe that they could, but she had seen too much to think that they could all get out. They'd all heard the stories of those who'd tried._

_Catra glowered at her and her hands became fists. "When people leave, it's those who're left behind who have to deal with the fallout." She looked away as if drawing upon some memory. "So everyone who can leave, everyone who genuinely wants to, I'm going to get them out." Her jaw was set and her stance was stubborn. "No one gets left behind, not if I can help it."_

_Scorpia had seen the consequences of those who tried to desert. And if Catra was right, there were a whole lot of people who wanted to leave which just increased the risk._

_But if there was anyone who could pull this off…_

_"__Are you with me?" Catra stared into her eyes, and that's when Scorpia noticed she was trembling slightly._

_It suddenly hit Scorpia how much Catra trusted her. This was treasonous talk, and even if Catra was the second-in-command, there was no way she would get off lightly if Scorpia turned her in._

_But she _had_ come to Scorpia. From what she could tell, Catra had come to her first._

_Scorpia's heart swelled._

_"__How do you want to do this?" She grinned at her._

_And Catra grinned right back, big and genuine and light shining in her eyes._

_And that right there made all of these risks worth it._

* * *

"We then talked to Entrapta and got her on board." Scorpia finished her story. "And from there Catra began recruiting those who wanted to leave and arranged for us to smuggle all the kids out as well."

Adora stared at Scorpia with wide eyes, still processing all that she had said. "Kids?" She murmured, her brow furrowing a bit.

Scorpia blinked. "Oh, I guess we never really mentioned it to you!" She clapped her claws together. "One of Catra's primary objectives was to get all the kids the Horde stole as 'recruits' out of there. That's why we need help trying to find their families if we can."

Adora swallowed hard. Her chest felt tight, and she could feel her hands shaking, so she quickly curled them into fists to hide it.

The cat was watching her closely from the other side of the room.

"Oh, that's - that's good." Adora managed to say.

"Yeah." Scorpia brightly smiled. "She didn't want anyone else to go through what she and the others did as kids, so I'm pretty sure that's what really got things started." She met Adora's eyes. "And anyway, that's why I know she won't leave us behind. She'll be back."

"Right…" The walls in the room were closing in and Adora had to get out now. "I have to go check on something. See you later, Scorpia." She wobbled slightly as she got to her feet and she made a hasty retreat.

"See you!" Scorpia called to her turned back, but she didn't respond.

Adora couldn't respond.

Instead, Adora sped through the halls until she finally reached her bedroom. And once the door was shut behind her, she let herself fall apart as she fell on her bed.

Had she ever really known Catra?

Adora had always thought she had, that she had known Catra better than anyone, but she never would've expected this. She never would have guessed her real motivations. And it was only once they'd become separated that Catra had admitted that she lied often about her feelings and Adora had never even noticed.

Catra _knew_ Adora. She knew exactly which buttons to push, she knew how to draw her out, she knew what motivated her. She hadn't realized that Adora didn't know the Horde was evil, but then again, that had been a shock to everyone, even Adora. All in all, Catra knew Adora probably better than Adora knew herself.

Could Adora say the same about Catra?

_No,_ Adora realized, _I can't._

She had once told Catra that she had never thought of Catra as second best, had never looked down on her, but now she was wondering if that was really true.

_"__You never did have much faith in me."_

Catra had told her that in the temple, but Adora had brushed it off as just Catra's usual snark. However, now she was realizing how true that had been.

What did it say that she had never realized how smart Catra was until she was plotting against her? What did it say that she had never seen what a skilled fighter Catra was until they were going blow for blow against each other in the heat of battle? What did it say that she had never realized how much Catra hid about how she felt about things until she literally told Adora to her face?

What did it say that she didn't realize just how much Catra had been hurt when they were kids, when Adora had been right there, until she learned that Catra had plotted a whole escape attempt around saving more children from the same fate?

_"__When people leave, it's those who're left behind who have to deal with the fallout."_

Adora had left Catra behind. She hadn't meant to but she did. And thinking back, at Thaymor Catra had said something about Shadow Weaver freaking out when she didn't get back in time. And Shadow Weaver freaking out had never spelled good news for Catra.

And when Catra had failed to bring Adora back…

Adora shuddered, her hands curled once again into fists, and she buried her face in her pillow.

Adora wanted to say that everything could have been solved if Catra had just come with her then, and back then she would've said that. But now, now she knew better.

Back then, the Rebellion had a hard time accepting her and she was She-ra. Catra wouldn't have had that luxury. The Defiant, Catra's own group of deserters, were only accepted now because Adora had paved the way and Octavia and the Horde had unexpectedly eased their negotiations by proving that their intentions were genuine. That didn't stop Scorpia and Entrapta from getting the occasional hostile look though.

For the first time, Adora seriously considered if she had been a bad friend to Catra. Especially since Scorpia and Entrapta were showing her what good friends they were to her.

Adora hadn't even put in as much effort as they have to find her!

A sudden weight on her bed made Adora jump.

She looked up to see the cat sitting on her bed, staring her down as if studying an interesting specimen to play with.

Adora felt a moment of confusion. After all, she'd shut her door behind her and there's no way that Fluffy could've leapt to the balcony or window. But she brushed that aside as she saw a sudden opportunity.

Adora needed to vent, but this wasn't something she felt comfortable going to Bow or Glimmer with, at least not at this point. However, no matter how judgey she looked, it's not like the cat could actually judge her. And it couldn't tell anyone anything either.

Adora reached out her hand to pet her but retracted it as she sniffled miserably. "I messed up, kitty."

Fluffy seemed to give off an impression of "Yeah, so what?" so Adora quickly continued.

"I messed up big time with Catra." Fluffy blinked in surprise at her. "I think… I think Catra was right, about how I treated her."

Adora wiped at her eyes to try to banish the moisture she felt gathering there. "I didn't - I didn't mean to. Not like how Catra thinks I did, but I - " She swallowed. "I think I was holding her back. I didn't really notice how good she was at fighting, planning, being sneaky… at least not until she was using those skills against me.

"And Shadow Weaver hurt her." Adora's hand curled into a fist and she found that she couldn't look at Fluffy for some reason, so she didn't notice the way that the cat froze at her words.

"I tried my best to protect her when I could, but with Shadow Weaver… Catra was right that I didn't really do much. No, I thought it was normal, I thought it was okay what she did with her. After all, Catra would go against orders, get into mischief, not show proper respect. I thought it was just punishment for her acting out.

"But out here, I've seen that that's not normal! No one should be treated like she was, and it shouldn't have taken seeing other people getting hurt or how people just don't treat each other like that to realize it! Catra didn't need that in order to know it was wrong, and now she's done all this to prevent it from happening to anyone else.

"I just - Catra was right about a lot of things. More than I've ever realized before." Adora hated how often she'd been crying lately but here she was, once again, crying her eyes out over Catra. "I was a terrible friend," Adora said softly, "and I probably won't ever be able to apologize.

"Because she's gone. And she might never - she might be - "

Adora bit her lip. She had decided she wouldn't think like that anymore.

"I miss Catra."

Silence descended upon the room. Adora felt spent, her tears and her words finally drying up. It wasn't an awkward silence; it was peaceful, almost relaxing.

Adora heard a small huff and felt the weight shift on her bed. She tried to stifle her disappointment. Part of her wanted Fluffy to stay as just her presence made her feel more at ease, but she knew that the cat never hung out with her for long.

A tickling sensation followed by the soft press of a wet nose on her neck startled her.

Adora whipped her head around and her eyes widened as she saw Fluffy right there, gently pressing her nose against her, as if trying to comfort her.

Fluffy sniffed at her cheek and neck, before she finally seemed satisfied, and with a few turns of her body, she curled up right against Adora. Her tiny body brought more warmth to Adora than anything else had in recent memory.

With a tentative hand, Adora reached out and then slowly, very slowly, began to pet Fluffy's head.

Her breath caught as she received a rumbling purr in response.

Tears stung her eyes as she slowly closed them, the purrs and the warmth unwinding something deep in Adora as she relaxed.

She'd almost forgotten what it was like to have someone else sleep by your side.

"Thank you." Adora whispered as she fell asleep, exhausted from all of the day's emotional upheavals.

She smiled as the purring just got louder.

* * *

_AN: So Catradora is my main ship, but I do enjoy Scorptra and other kinds of ships as well. Scorpia is probably tied with Bow for my second favorite character and Entrapta's a close third. Catra, naturally, is my favorite._

_Anywho, so this was originally going to be part of last week's chapter, but I wasn't done with it so I just posted what I had. Probably a good thing as this ended up a lot longer than I thought. And it seems a few people have already figured out one of my plot twists! Glad you waited for this next bit._


	6. Chapter 6 - Long Lost Words Whisper

Chapter 6 - Long Lost Words Whisper Slowly to Me

Adora was dreaming. She had to be.

Because there was no way that Catra could be lying right next to her, head propped up on a fist as she studied Adora with what most would call a disinterested expression.

Adora wanted to shout, shake her for worrying them all, hug her close and cry and never let her go. But she couldn't. She found that she couldn't move, even though she desperately wanted to.

So this had to be a dream.

It was nice to see her, especially since it wasn't a nightmare which is where she usually saw Catra nowadays.

Until Catra opened her mouth.

"You're an idiot."

If Adora was capable of narrowing her eyes, she would've.

Couldn't Catra be nice at least in her dreams?

Catra gave an aggravated groan and flopped over on her back. "I mean, seriously? It's only now that you realize all this? Ugh." She ran her hand down her face. "I never realized how _slow_ you were back in the Horde. You really need to work on your observation skills; if not, you're probably gonna get yourself killed.

"I mean, it took complete strangers for you to understand what the Horde was like." She snorted. "I can't believe it took me being gone for you to really think about what our relationship was like."

Catra was quiet for a moment. She looked surprisingly pensive. "I didn't think you'd miss me." The words were so soft that if Adora hadn't been lying next to her, she would've never had heard them.

Catra abruptly sat up and turned away from Adora. "What am I doing? I thought I was over all this. It's not like you can even hear me; you're asleep.

"And I find it highly suspicious that I can only go back to normal when you aren't around." She lifted a hand and flexed her fingers, seeming to study them and talk to herself. "I know she said that this was all perfectly natural, but it's still weird. And why now? I never had to deal with this sort of magical crap in my life, and it suddenly starts now?"

She sighed. "I should probably go back to the old lady's again…" She then made a soft, disgruntled noise. "Dang, looks like I've hit the limit…

"Why can't I just be normal again?"

There was a flash of orange light.

Adora could suddenly move again. She shot up in bed, her eyes flying open. "Catra?!" She twisted around, looking all over her room.

No signs of Catra anywhere.

Her gaze eventually fell on Fluffy, who was looking at her almost pityingly.

Adora slumped over, and she threaded her fingers through her hair as she gathered herself together.

That dream was… weird. It had almost seemed real, as if she were actually here, talking to her.

But that was impossible, right?

Adora cast the cat a suspicious look. Her gut was telling her that she had something to do with all this, but Fluffy just looked at her like she was the stupidest being on the planet.

She sighed. She must be going crazy if she was suspecting a cat of all things of being involved in her former friend's disappearance.

Still, as she got out of bed, Adora padded over to the vanity against the wall. She just had to check -

Catra's head guard was still sitting there.

Adora deflated. She didn't know why she had thought that it was involved in all this, maybe because of how much she associated it with her friend, but somehow she had almost expected it to be gone.

She reached out and gently stroked the familiar head piece. Adora had cleaned it off soon after receiving it, so it was no longer covered in blood, but sometimes Adora swore she could still feel the gritty stickiness of it under her fingers.

The head guard was special. None of the kids were given much at the Horde, just the basic necessities and weapons really, but this had been something just for Catra. Adora could still remember when Catra had gotten it, sometime around when they were beginning to turn from kids into teenagers.

Catra had been summoned by Shadow Weaver, and Adora had been so afraid that Catra had done something again to warrant yet another punishment. But unlike usual, Catra had returned excited, eyes shining, and the head guard already in place. Apparently, she'd been told that it was to keep her hair out of her eyes and act as protection. She wasn't supposed to take it off.

Adora frowned. There was something off about that…

Still, she turned away and got ready for the day, a new energy filling her veins.

She wasn't going to mope around about this anymore. Sure, she'd been getting her work done as required, but Adora was actually going to do more than sit around reading reports. She had always been more of a doer than a thinker, so she was going to do something!

She didn't notice Fluffy slipping out of her room, smirking like the cat who ate the canary.

Adora had a former friend to find and a probable Horde plot to figure out.

* * *

"Alright, it looks like they haven't checked this area yet." Bow gave her a hopeful grin as he led the way deeper into the woods. Adora returned it before looking back down at the device in her hands.

Inevitably, Scorpia and Entrapta had to return to Dryl to continue to lead the Defiant, though they had decided to continue their own avenues of investigation for finding Catra as well as keeping an eye on the Horde. They still kept in easy contact through the communicators Entrapta had set up before leaving.

Adora had decided to try her own methods and luckily, she'd managed to recruit Bow into helping her. There was no one else who was as familiar with the wood's shifting ways and he could navigate with almost no problems. Adora was grateful when Bow offered his help as Glimmer had become more involved in the planning process for the Alliance's next move.

And Adora had managed to gain another ally in Castaspella. It'd been a month now, so any physical traces of Catra's trail would've long gone cold. However, the sorceress had imbued one of Entrapta's tablets with a spell that would pick up and reveal traces of Catra's aura or whatever. Adora didn't get it, but she hoped it would work.

It hadn't so far, as far as she could tell.

Adora pouted a little as she gazed down at the tablet. Despite throwing herself into the search now, it still hadn't progressed much. And today, she had thought that Fluffy was going to accompany them as they entered the woods as she'd stayed by Adora's side for quite a while after they had ventured under the forest's shade. But after giving Adora a pointed look, she had eventually flounced off on her own. Maybe to see Madame Razz, maybe to hunt, Adora wasn't sure. She knew Fluffy would catch up eventually, probably once they started heading back as she always seemed to know how to find them.

At least Bow stuck with her.

"Thanks again for this." Adora threw him a grateful smile.

"No problem." Bow grinned right back as he looked over his shoulder. "After all, what are friends for?"

Adora laughed at his response, her heart feeling lighter in her chest. Bow always knew the best way to lift someone's spirits. He really was the best person to have as a friend.

"Besides I'd love to meet Catra when we're on the same side and she's not trying to kill us!" There was a bounce of excitement to his step as he wove through the trees. "I mean, Scorpia and Entrapta make her seem pretty cool."

"Yeah, she really was." Adora couldn't help agree. There had always been something cool about the way that Catra would disregard orders and do her own thing. She always got in trouble for it later, but her satisfied smirk had just screamed cool.

"You guys were friends, right?" Bow glanced over at her, a slight tilt to his head. "You've mentioned it before, but you never really talk about her."

"Ah, I suppose I haven't." Her face fell slightly. Talking about her, talking about all they had shared, had just seemed wrong when they were enemies. After all, Adora had to focus on fighting her; she couldn't get caught up in how it used to be. She made that mistake before, in the She-Ra temple, and she had no intention of making it again.

"What was she like?"

Adora paused, and she carefully studied his face. She looked away as she saw nothing but genuine, soft curiosity.

She took a breath.

"I've known Catra as long as I can remember." Adora's gaze trailed over the woods around them. They had reached a stream winding among the trees and walked along its bank. "Depending on the age that the Horde takes you in, it determines what happens to you. From what I know, both Catra and I were just babies when we entered the Horde, so we became Shadow Weaver's wards, technically under her care for the first few years.

"By the time we were… I don't four, five? Jeez, I don't even know how old we are… That's when we joined the newer 'recruits' since that's the average age kids come in. And so we were placed with our squad, Lonnie, Rogelio, Kyle, and the rest. From that moment on, we were all raised together. We made a decent team.

"But Catra was always different."

Though she didn't realize it, a grin spread across Adora's face.

"She was always going off to explore the Fright Zone, and inevitably I'd get dragged into it as well. Catra much preferred that than training; she'd always show up late for it, swooping in at the last second to take care of all the bots. Plus, when we did one-on-one stuff, she was the only one who could match me blow for blow. It makes sense that that ended up carrying over.

"She always looked out for me. One time, when I'd been training too hard, she literally crawled into my lap and wouldn't let me up until I'd taken a nap with her. Catra was always trying to get me to relax.

"I was on good terms with all the other members of our squad, but Catra was the only one who could make me laugh. When we were little, I crawled into her bunk one night when she had a nightmare, and then we just… never stopped. We still slept together up until… well, everything." Adora's smile began to fade. "And we told each other everything. Or at least, I thought we did." She stopped in her tracks. "But it turned out that she hid a lot about how she felt."

Silence fell. It took Adora a few minutes to realize how odd that was, too caught up in her memories of the past. Because it was weird; Bow wasn't one to be silent for long.

She looked up at Bow with a frown. He was staring at her, eyes wide with shock.

"What?" Her brow furrowed.

"You…" His expression turned thoughtful. "The way you talk about her, and the way you've reacted to all this…"

Adora raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"Adora, are you…" He waited a beat. "Are you in love with Catra?"

Adora frowned harder.

Love wasn't really a word in the Horde's vocabulary. The first time she'd heard it had been when she and Catra had been exploring some of the dark corners of the Fright Zone, whispered between two older cadets as they huddled together in the shadows. Shadow Weaver had once crooned it at her, lies dripping from her tongue though she hadn't known it at the time. However, she had never understood it.

Love was freely talked about here on the other side though. It was shown in the care between Queen Angella and Glimmer, a mother-daughter type of love. It was shown in the happiness that Adora, Glimmer, and Bow felt when they were together. It was the strength that came when all of their allies worked together.

Catra had been her friend. Shouldn't it be obvious?

"Of course, I-I love her." Adora stumbled over the words for some reason. And she found that her heart was beating wildly. "She's my friend."

"No, I meant if you were _in love_ with her." Bow waved his hands about, looking slightly panicked.

"I…" Adora tilted her hand. "Is there a difference?"

Bow opened his mouth to reply -

But just then, the tablet in Adora's hands went off.

Bow and Adora both jumped, giving off simultaneous shrieks.

Adora held up the tablet, taking in the blinking purple lights. "What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?"

"I don't know! Press the button?!" Bow suggested.

"O-okay." Adora frantically pressed everywhere she could until finally the screen came alive. She blinked at the image there.

Bow leaned over and raised his eyebrows at what he saw. "Is that - ?"

"Mm." Adora nodded as the screen showed Catra emerging from the stream next to them. "Catra."

* * *

_Catra spluttered as she pulled herself out of the water. Stars, she hated water, but it had been the easiest way to get out of the Fright Zone quickly._

_Though she wouldn't say that she had meant to fall into the river that cut through the Fright Zone and provided all its water. It had seemed like a good idea at the time as she'd been between Hordak and a fatal fall._

_And she wouldn't say that she had meant to mess up her arm as she had tried to slow her fall into the water either._

_She glared down at her left arm. She concentrated, but she could just barely move her fingers as blood ran down it. Catra knew something was fractured or broken there, but the best she could do for now was try not to move it._

_Catra grunted as she finally got all the way out and knelt on the bank. Her breaths came out in sharp gasps, and she clutched her still bleeding side and clenched her eyes shut against the pain._

_She wasn't in the clear yet. She'd managed to escape Hordak's grasp, but she just knew that he'd be sending whatever vehicles he could after her. She was a bigger target than Scorpia and the others for now, and she intended to keep it that way. She had to buy them as much time as possible to get away._

_Catra glanced around and groaned. And now she was lost in the Whispering Woods._

_Great._

_Her ears pricked up at the familiar sound of skiffs flying. She cursed and stumbled to her feet._

_She had to get away._

_It wasn't exactly easy. Catra felt the full weight of her injuries as she staggered back and forth, using anything she could, trees, bushes, branches, to support herself. It wasn't just her arm and side and the myriad of bruises and cuts she'd gotten from the fight. She could feel that something was wrong with her ankle, and her head really hurt, meaning she probably had a concussion at the least. She brushed her bangs aside as her loose hair fell into her face. She was getting nowhere not nearly fast enough._

_She stiffened as she picked up approaching voices._

Dangit! _She threw herself into the brush and hunkered down, biting down a whimper._

_The voices got closer and closer, and Catra's ears pitched back._

_She couldn't be found here. She had come _way _too far for it end now._

Gotta hide, gotta hide, gotta hide.

_Catra's breath caught and she tried to make herself as small as possible._

_She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping with everything in her that they wouldn't find her._

_Her eyes popped open as she felt warmth stir in her chest._

What?

_There was a flash of orange light._

* * *

Adora and Bow stared at the screen as it flashed orange and then went blank.

They waited a moment. They waited two.

Nothing.

"That's it?!" Adora shook the tablet as if that would return Catra to the screen. "What happened?"

"I don't know." Bow plucked the tablet from her grip before she tried anything drastic. He frowned as he gave it a quick once over. "There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the tablet itself…" He murmured to himself.

"Do you think Castaspella's spell failed?" Adora glared at the tablet and tried to resist the urge to snatch it back and shake it some more.

"I dunno…" Bow hummed thoughtfully. "But I don't think we're gonna get anything else today. We should probably head back."

"Now?" Adora hated how desperate she sounded, but this was the first clue they'd gotten about Catra in ages.

Bow was watching her closely, as if figuring out where the pieces of a puzzle went. "Yeah, now." He said quietly, his face twisting in sympathy.

Adora sighed. She knew he was right. She brushed her hair back even though she knew not a strand was out of place. "Yeah, let's go." She held out her hand for the tablet and after a moment of hesitation, Bow handed her back the tablet.

Adora found herself glaring at it as they tramped back through the woods. She knew it probably wasn't the devices fault that it had apparently lost Catra's trail, but this was just frustrating.

Part of Adora had been happy to see Catra again, but her worry had grown. Catra had looked even worse than she had in the Horde's security footage. And this had all taken place weeks ago. Stars only knew what could have happened to her in the interim.

Especially since she still hadn't turned up.

Adora absentmindedly rubbed her arm as a slight chill ran up her spine.

She just had to keep believing that somehow, someway Catra would be fine. She was smart, she was capable, she'd find a way back. Catra had survived worse. Probably. Maybe.

Adora sighed again and looked around. She blinked in surprise as they were already practically at Bright Moon. The woods must have shifted again.

Adora glanced around for Fluffy and frowned when she didn't suddenly appear like she usually did. She paused at the forest's edge before she continued following Bow home.

After all, no matter how much or how far she roamed, Fluffy always came back.

There was no need to worry about her at least.

Or at least, that's what she thought, but she wondered if she would have to reassess that when a worried Glimmer met them at the entrance to the castle. Glimmer was holding her hand close to her chest, pressing some cloth against it, with her face puckered up.

"Glimmer!" Adora rushed up, the news about Catra forgotten in the face of her friend's worry. Because Glimmer wouldn't look like that for no reason. "Is something wrong?"

Glimmer hesitated for a second, studying Adora, before she took a deep breath. "I think something's wrong with Fluffy. Something happened I think, but I don't - I can't -" Glimmer huffed in frustration before turning on her heel. "Come on."

Bow and Adora exchanged a glance. "What happened?" Bow asked, as they hurried to follow her.

"I don't know!" Glimmer growled, and Adora knew that if Glimmer, who barely got along with Fluffy on the best of days, was this worried then it had to be serious. "She just ran back here like she was being chased by Hordak himself, but she looked - off somehow, I don't know. I followed her to Adora's room and tried to check on her, but she's panicking or something. She - " She clutched her hand tighter, prompting Adora to look down at it.

That's when Adora noticed the traces of blood on the cloth.

"Are you bleeding?" Adora yelped.

"She scratched me. It was an accident!" Glimmer hurriedly explained at Adora and Bow's surprised jolts. "Like I said, she was panicking and flailing about a bit and I tried picking her up, so… yeah."

Adora and Bow exchanged another look. That really was weird. Because as much as Fluffy didn't seem to like Glimmer, no matter how much she would hiss or growl or bat away unwanted people, she hadn't bit or scratched anyone.

Adora's face hardened. So this had to be really serious.

"Anyway, she…" Glimmer's voice trailed off as she slowed to a stop in front of Adora's bedroom door. She looked at the closed door in confusion.

Adora glanced between her and the door. "Is - is something else wrong?" Adora's nerves were jittery enough from all that had happened so far, she didn't see what exactly was wrong with her closed door.

Glimmer continued staring. "I didn't shut the door." She whispered.

Adora's heart seized. Because if Glimmer hadn't shut the door and Fluffy was the only one in there - and a cat really couldn't shut doors - then that meant -

Adora shoved her doors open, frantically looking around.

Her room was a mess. A lot messier than she had left it that morning.

All of the items that had been on her vanity and desk had been pushed off and scattered around the floor. Her blankets and pillow had also slid down, with the blanket creating a curtain over one side of the bed. Papers and pens and pencils littered the floor.

It was like someone had been searching for something.

Adora drew her sword before she could even think about it. "Fluffy?" She called softly, eyes carefully roving over every corner of her room. "Fluffy, where are you?" No signs of any unwanted people, but also no signs of Fluffy.

If someone had hurt her cat, she swore to She-ra -

She was vaguely aware of Bow and Glimmer creeping in behind her to follow the edges of the room. _Good._ She thought. If there were any intruders, they'd be able to surround them.

Adora halted as her eyes caught a slight movement. _There! Under the bed! _Slowly, she crouched and peered beyond the hanging blanket, holding her breath in anticipation -

And let it out in a huff as blue and gold eyes peered back at her. "There you are, Fluffy. Are you - " Adora stopped as she reached out for the cat. It had been subtle, but Fluffy had flinched slightly at her outstretched hand. She frowned and put down her sword, relying on Bow and Glimmer to watch her back. She then slid lower to the ground, trying to make herself as unthreatening as possible as she remembered what happened to Glimmer.

"Hey, it's all right." Adora used the same tone she used to use when Catra had a nightmare. "Everything's fine. No one here's gonna hurt you. If you had something to do with this, I'm not mad. It's okay…"

But Fluffy just backed up further, retreating into the corner, eyes wide and terrified of something that Adora couldn't see. She cursed slightly as she sat up. This wasn't getting her anywhere and something was clearly wrong.

"It's all clear over here." Bow called out from his side of the room.

"Same here." Glimmer agreed.

Adora ran her hands through her hair at that. "Thanks." She leaned against the bed, eyes shut as she pinched the bridge of her nose. At least her room was safe.

"Can't reach her?" Bow asked as he and Glimmer joined her by the bed.

"Well, I could but I don't want to - " Adora cut herself off as she opened her eyes and spotted a piece of paper lying next to her on the bed.

"Adora, what now?" Glimmer asked at her sudden silence, even as she watched Adora pick up the paper and stare at it.

Adora's heart pounded for more than one reason.

"Adora?"

"Adora, what's wrong?"

Shakily, Adora turned the paper around to show them the message written upon it. A warning.

Even as the two gasped, Adora wasn't sure if they understood the full weight of this message. Not just what it was about, but _who_ it was from.

In Catra's familiar scrawl was the ominous warning:

_"__Shadow Weaver is back."_

* * *

_AN: For some reason, this chapter took longer to write. This and the next chapter are kind of bridges, so sorry if there's not as much going on as normal, but I think it turned out all right. I've noticed several people have figured out what's going on or have a decent idea. Good job! :) Sorry I'm not replying to all your lovely comments, but they do keep me going._

_ Anyway, the plot is thickening. I'm thinking this fic might up having about 3-4 more chapters, so I probably won't get it done before the new season hits._


	7. Chapter 7 - You Must Fight

Chapter 7 - You Must Fight Just to Keep Them Alive

"You found Catra?!" Adora could practically see the excitement shining in Scorpia's eyes.

"Not quite. We just found a message from her." Adora smiled apologetically as Scorpia deflated. She could definitely relate, especially considering how grim the warning was.

"We still don't know how she managed to get into the castle." Adora pursed her lips at that. She'd been hoping the tablet could shed some light on how Catra got in and what she did, but it had been oddly silent. She didn't understand why it had worked in the forest but not now. It was a whole new kind of frustrating.

Still, as much as she hated to say it, they had more important things going on.

"However, her warning is clear. Shadow Weaver is on the move." Adora shook off that problem and replaced it with another.

"Do you have any idea what she could be up to?" Glimmer asked, leaning over to be within the screen's frame.

Quite frankly, Adora didn't think Scorpia and Entrapta would know much. After all, when they left the Horde, Catra had been second-in-command and Shadow Weaver had fallen from Hordak's graces. There really was no way that they could know what Shadow Weaver was up to.

She blinked though as Scorpia abruptly looked away, fiddling her claws together.

Adora and Glimmer's eyes narrowed.

That was a guilty look if they had ever seen one.

"Scorpia…" Adora's voice had a warning tone for if she was withholding information.

"Uh, well, I, uh," Scorpia looked around, and really, she was an even worse liar than Adora. Adora wondered how she had managed to keep their whole "run away from the Horde" plan under wraps. "First of all, Catra didn't know about this!" She burst out."

Adora blinked again in surprise. That was unexpected.

Bow, who'd been content to just sit back and watch the information exchanged, leaned into the screen as well. "What do you mean Catra didn't know about this?"

"Well, Catra prioritized getting people and supplies out of the Horde, especially all the kids, but well, Entrapta and I thought we should take it as well." Scorpia hurriedly explained. "I mean, after all, it could be used as a weapon and we can't just leave that in the Horde! Besides, if we really want to get technical, it's supposed to be mine, right? I'm fully within my right to take it, and - "

"Scorpia." Adora interjected, startling Scorpia into silence with her deadpan look. "What did you take?"

Scorpia wriggled with guilt for another moment, before she finally confessed. "Entrapta and I stole the Black Garnet!"

They all stared at her in shocked silence.

Unbidden, laughs escaped from Adora's lips. "That - that would draw her interest."

She had no idea why she was laughing. She most definitely wasn't happy.

It was just… this was a nightmare.

Sure, apparently when Shadow Weaver was Light Spinner she had her own magic. But Adora knew that the Black Garnet had probably been Shadow Weaver's source of power for as long as she could remember.

Scorpia had mentioned how possessive Shadow Weaver had been of the runestone. Apparently, Catra had had to literally fight her in order to get her to back off. It made sense Entrapta and Scorpia would've taken it rather than letting it fall back in to Shadow Weaver's hands the moment they left.

Still…

If Shadow Weaver was on the prowl for it…

Adora shuddered at the thought of her getting it back. She had already seen what sort of damage it could do to Glimmer's powers, who knew what else she had up her sleeve.

And from the terrified look Glimmer had on her face, Adora knew that she wasn't the only one thinking that.

"Okay." Glimmer bit her lip and Adora could see her gather her resolve. "So Shadow Weaver will probably be heading for you guys."

"Yeah, speaking of that." Scorpia glanced down at her desk and shifted some papers around. "According to some information we got today, some Horde scouts have been spotted near the base of the mountain for the past couple days."

All three of them tensed at the news. Adora frowned. It was the first solid bit of info they'd gotten since Octavia in regards to the Horde's next move. It wasn't all that surprising: the Defiant were just getting their feet under them even after the weeks that had passed. They had a lot of people to account for and many of them were figuring out what they wanted to do, whether they still wanted to fight or not.

They were vulnerable.

And when you added in the factor that Shadow Weaver seemed to be back in command…

"How are your defenses?" Glimmer leaned in closer, face set in a tight frown as it always got when she took command herself.

"The mountain provides a pretty good defense itself. There aren't many paths to get up here in the first place." Scorpia tapped the tip of her claw on the desk and frowned as she thought for a moment. Then she beamed at them in reassurance. "And Entrapta said that she's almost done installing our personal defenses and she's doubly sure that they won't try to kill any of us this time."

There was a muffled boom from an explosion, and though her face didn't move, Adora could see Scorpia's tail flick a bit at the sound.

"Everything is a-okay!" Entrapta's distant shout filtered through the connection.

Scorpia's smile didn't twitch. "So I think we should be okay." She said, cheerily enough. "We'll keep you updated, okay?" And with a speed that belied her calm demeanor, she cut off the connection.

There was silence as they stared at the blank screen. The Bow turned to Glimmer.

"We're going to go help them, right?"

"Oh, we are totally going to go help them." Glimmer said, as she turned towards the door and walked out. "I'll go let Mom know."

"Alrighty," Bow stood up and stretched. He glanced at Adora. "Any chance Swift Wind could give us a ride?"

Adora shook her head. "When I introduced him to Fluffy, he declared that humans were idiots and he'd let us sort all this out before flying off to stir up rebellion in the East." She frowned. She had gotten the distinct feeling that Fluffy had said something to Swift Wind to prompt him to leave, but she had no clue what that could have been. Or at the very least, Swift Wind had figured something out that she hadn't.

"Aw, nuts. Guess we're walking then." Bow sighed. "Welp, better get packing." He perked up as he left the room, Adora trailing after him. "Hey, I can show Entrapta my new arrows."

Adora chuckled at his enthusiasm as they parted ways. She had her own preparations to make.

She already had her sword strapped to her back as usual, however, as she entered her room, she quickly gathered her essentials. Adora packed enough to last at least a few days, since she wasn't sure how long this would all last. After all, once it became clear that a battle was approaching, things usually went pretty fast.

Adora hesitated as she passed the vanity though. She stared down at Catra's head guard.

Some instinct urged her to take it with her.

She frowned.

There really was no reason to take it. And it'd only take up room among the stuff she actually needed. But still…

This was the same instinct that had led her to the sword. The same instinct that had helped her use She-ra's powers even when she had no clue what they were.

It was not something to be ignored.

Adora slipped the head guard into her bag.

And then she jumped as Fluffy leapt onto the vanity. Fluffy gave her a searching look, before tilting her head in question.

"Sorry, kitty." Adora reached over and gave Fluffy some good scritches behind the ear. She was glad that Fluffy had calmed down significantly from when they first found the message. Adora figured that Catra's presence must have been what had freaked her out. According to Bow, cats were pretty territorial. "I have to go on a bit of a trip for a few days. I'll make sure the guards know to feed you, okay?"

Fluffy had that disgruntled, judgemental look back on her face.

"Don't give me that look." Adora said. "It's just the Horde seems to be getting ready to make a move on the Defiant, and since Shadow Weaver's definitely going after the Black Garnet they have, we're acting as back-up."

Fluffy's eyes widened, but Adora turned away to grab the last of her things. She slung her bag over her shoulder as she walked back to the door. "Anyway, be a good girl while I'm gone, okay?" She paused at the door as she felt a light touch at the bottom of her leg.

Adora looked down and saw Fluffy gazing up at her. Her eyes were big and pleading and...

Oh, no.

Those eyes…

She knew those eyes.

When Catra made those eyes at her, she always had found it hard to resist her. Now with Fluffy, who was smaller and fluffier and generally sweeter than her?

Stars, this was hard.

"I - I - " Adora quickly turned away, steeling her resolve. "I've got to go!"

Adora dashed through the door and slammed it behind her before Fluffy could follow. The effect was immediate as thumps pounded against the door, yowls soon coming after.

"Sorry, Fluffy!" Adora apologized as she ran away. She snagged a guard to ensure that Fluffy would be fed and then she fled from the guilt and her upset cat.

Adora pulled up short when she got to the entrance of the palace though. Bow and Glimmer were already there, next to a… skiff?

"Adora!" Glimmer waved and smiled. "I nearly forgot Scorpia and Entrapta had given us one of these!"

"We won't be walking after all!" Bow looked excited over the prospect.

Adora huffed and hopped on. Fluffy would surely be fine without her, but the Defiant definitely needed her. "I certainly prefer it over walking. We should save our strength after all!"

A flicker of shadow moved in the corner of her eye.

Adora whipped her head around, eyes scanning every nook and cranny around.

Nothing.

Adora forced herself to relax.

Shadow Weaver couldn't use the shadows without the Black Garnet.

She couldn't be here.

Adora had to remember that.

And yet, she couldn't find it in herself to answer Glimmer and Bow's quizzical looks as she took the helm and steered them in the direction of Dryl.

* * *

"You guys really didn't have to come." Scorpia told them, leading them through the castle. "We have it all handled."

Adora really wanted to pay attention to what Scorpia was saying, but all she could do was marvel at the sights around her.

The last time they had come to Dryl, it had been deserted. The only living people there had been Entrapta and her cooking staff. Everything had been quiet and cold and empty and the killer robots hadn't helped with the atmosphere.

Now, the halls were filled with people, bustling to and fro. There were quite a few people who Adora vaguely recognized, even if she didn't know who they were. Sounds of construction, of tinkering, of laughing, of yelling filled the corridors. Despite the situation, despite the fact that only half of the people wore the uniform of the Defiant and actually acted like the soldiers they were raised to be, pretty much everyone seemed a mix of content and excited.

Dryl had come to life.

And she wasn't the only one who thought that. Glimmer was the only one attempting to pay attention but even she occasionally glanced around in wide-eye wonder.

"And the Black Garnet's in here." Scorpia said, as she led the way into one of Dryl's many laboratories. Adora snapped her attention back into place. "This is Entrapta's second lab, so it has the second most defense systems to protect it from intruders."

Yeah, Adora could kinda remember how difficult it had been to break into Entrapta's main lab.

And there it was.

Adora glared up at the Black Garnet. The thing had caused them all a lot of grief over the years, but it was safer for them if it was here rather than with the Horde.

"Still," Scorpia turned and smiled at them, "I am glad to see you all. You should get a chance to check things out."

"Thank you for hosting us." Glimmer replied diplomatically. "It looks like things have really changed around here."

Scorpia chuckled. "Yeah, they - " She stopped and gasped. "I didn't realize you were here!"

Adora, Bow, and Glimmer whipped around and glanced frantically. However, there were no signs of the enemy.

"Fluffy!" Scorpia crouched down with open claws, and sure enough, Fluffy leapt into her arms.

They stared.

Bow turned to Adora. "You brought your cat?" He asked incredulously.

"No, I didn't." She hissed, not looking away. Adora didn't understand what she was seeing.

How?

She had shut the door behind her and left Fluffy in her room. The windows had been shut. There was no way Fluffy could've gotten out in time to join them.

Adora thought back. That flicker of movement must have been Fluffy stowing away on the skiff, but it didn't explain how Fluffy had gotten out.

Fluffy threw her a smug look from where she was cuddled in Scorpia's arms. Adora gave her a narrowed look in return.

Something was up.

Once could be a fluke, twice a coincidence, but three times that Fluffy managed to get in and out of the impossible? There wasn't a chance that this wasn't unusual.

"Is something the matter?" Adora jumped and found Entrapta at her side. Sort of. She was hanging upside down from the ceiling by her hair, her face mask down.

Adora glanced between Entrapta and the adorable scene before them. Maybe the scientist princess could make heads or tails of this. "I left Fluffy in my room with the door and windows shut, but she still somehow managed to sneak here with us."

"Really?" The mask flipped up and Adora saw Entrapta frown and give a thoughtful hum. "You know, cats doing especially weird things prods at something in my memory, but I can't recall what." She tapped her chin. "It was something Catra reminded me of as well… what was it…"

Eventually she shrugged and swung down. "Oh, well, I'll remember it eventually if it's important!" She turned to Scorpia. "Mind showing them their rooms while they're here?"

"Sure!" Scorpia readily agreed, guiding Fluffy to sit on her shoulder. "Just follow me!"

It didn't take long for them to get rooms and settle in. That's where Scorpia left them, claiming she had matters to attend to, and Fluffy followed after her. That allowed Adora to sink into her bed and groan.

That cat was going to be the death of her. How did she keep pulling off these stunts?

"Sooooo," Bow drawled as he looked over at Adora, and something in his tone made Adora squint at him in suspicion, "since we've got a while before we take over guard duty, I think we should talk about before."

Adora blinked at him, mind blank as to what he was talking about.

"Before? Before what?" Glimmer frowned between the two of them.

"Oh?" Bow's gaze didn't leave Adora. "You know."

Adora did not know.

"You mean, your new arrows you wanted to show Entrapta?" Adora guessed.

"No!" Bow slapped his face. "Though I do need to do that," he mumbled before turning his attention back to Adora. "I meant about how you're in love with Catra."

Oh, this again.

"Oh, that." Glimmer said. "I mean, I thought it was kinda obvious when you think about it…"

"No, Glimmer," Bow quickly cut in, "Adora doesn't think she's in love with her."

"What?!" Glimmer whirled to look at her. "You don't think you're in love with her?! Then how do you explain how you never gave up on her? How you hoped she'd leave the Horde? Everything that happened at Princess Prom?!"

Adora stared at them, dumbfounded. "How is any of that relevant? She's my best friend, my oldest friend! How could I not want her to leave the Horde? It's evil!"

"That still doesn't explain Princess Prom." Glimmer muttered, crossing her arms, but she relaxed as Bow put his hand on his arm.

"Wait, before you asked…" He scrunched his face as he tried to remember. "You asked me what the difference between loving someone or being in love was, right?"

"Yeah…" Adora said slowly. "Right now it only seems to be a difference of one word."

"Oh, I see the problem now." Glimmer pinched the bridge of her nose. "Okay, so." She clapped her hands. "There are different kinds of love."

"Obviously." Adora wasn't an idiot.

"So, there's familial love like what you get in families." Bow explained. "Platonic love among friends like we all have, since we're besties." They all shared a grin at that. "And then there's romantic love."

"Romantic love." Now that they said it, Adora thought she had heard of that from some of the books Bow had recommended to her but that she had only had time to flip through. "And that's… different."

"Yeah, my parents, Bow's dads, they loved each other romantically. It's when people are _together_ together." Glimmer continued the explanation. "Y'know, married, dating, whatever? Like Spinnerella and Netossa, or Peekablue and Sweet Bee. That's what people do when they're in love."

"Oh." Adora thought on that for a moment.

Sure, when she had been researching for Princess Prom, she had uncovered that Peekablue and Sweet Bee were dating, but given the unfamiliar term, she had just assumed that meant that they had a close alliance and were going to the dance together. And Spinnerella and Netossa were awfully close to one another, but she'd thought that they were just really, really good friends, just like she and Catra had been.

Wait a moment.

"So you think Catra and I… that I'm _like that_ with her." Adora didn't think that was true. She was pretty sure Netossa and Spinnerella would never try to kill each other like they had. Sure, things between her and Catra were complicated in general, but she didn't think that even at their best they were like those two.

"Well, do you want her to stay by your side?"

Well, yeah. That's what friends did.

"Do you want to hold and cuddle her?"

How was she supposed to explain that they used to do that on a regular basis?

"Do you want to protect her from any kind of harm?"

Again, that's what friends did.

"Do you want to kiss her?"

"Do I - what?" Adora's face erupted in red at the thought. Kissing? Catra? That was just - it was -

"Let me make this simpler." Bow stopped Glimmer's interrogation. He crouched down in front of Adora on her bed and looked her in the eye. "Adora, we're your best friends and you love us."

"Of course." She reached out and took his hands, not wanting them to ever doubt how much she cared for them. "Of course, I love you."

Bow smiled, soft and gentle. "Is what you feel for Catra the same as you feel for us? Since she's also your best friend."

Adora stared at him.

That was… That was different.

Yes, she loved them dearly, but it would only make sense that Catra was different. She'd known her longer, they had so much history between them, gone through so much together. And since everything with She-ra and the sword had gone down, everything had just become such a messy, tangled web.

So yes, Adora loved Bow and Glimmer, but it was different than how she loved Catra.

It didn't mean she was in love with her though!

So what if she loved the way that Catra's eyes would light up when she was happy? So what if she loved that smirk she got she was plotting or thought she was winning?

So what if she still sometimes thought about how they would curl up together in Catra's bed when the nightmares had been at their worst? So what if she sometimes thought about how surprisingly soft her hair had always been and how she had been the only person allowed to touch her ears and tail? So what if her outfit from Princess Prom occasionally haunted her dreams?

So what if she remembered how gentle Catra could be, how she would always be by her side the moment she thought she was hurt until they had become enemies? So what if she remembered how Catra had always stuck by her at the Horde, even if she got punished for it?

So what if -

Oh, stars.

Oh, sweet stars on high.

Going with what Bow and Glimmer had said, it was highly probable that Adora was in love with Catra.

The two of them were looking at her expectantly.

"I…" Adora's mouth suddenly felt extremely dry. "I…"

The alarm clanged, making them all jump.

Adora had never been so grateful for an emergency in her entire life.

A loud speaker crackled as Scorpia's voice came through. "Attention, everyone. Signs of a military troop quickly approaching have been spotted. Please either get to your post or get to your designated shelter. Please and thank you!"

"Oh, wow, look at that! Better go to a place where I can easily protect the Black Garnet! I'm sure you guys will do fine helping your own group of soldiers! Bye!" Adora grabbed her sword and bolted out of there as fast as she could, ignoring their muted protests. She was glad that when they had talked things over with Scorpia on the way here it had been decided that Glimmer and Bow would help the soldiers with the defenses while Adora would be strategically placed on the best route to the Black Garnet.

Adora would take a physical fight over emotional drama any day.

She knew her friends meant well, but she couldn't be distracted right now. Adora slipped into her battle mindset, already thinking of how she could fight off Shadow Weaver if she showed up. After all, she had beat her once before, she could do it again.

Catra and any emotions connected to her could wait. For now, Adora would defend what she had been trying to build.

* * *

_AN: This chapter was pretty slow to write. Like I said, it's another bridge chapter, but hey, at least Adora's gotten a clue in more than one subject!_

_I had thought of continuing on and leaving the chapter on a bigger cliffhanger, but the next bit works better to be part of the next chapter as a whole. Get ready for some fighting and some revelations._


	8. Chapter 8 - I Got the Eye of the Tiger

Chapter 8 - I Got the Eye of the Tiger

This was turning out to be more boring than Adora had expected.

It hadn't occurred to her when she had volunteered to be a secondary defense that she probably wouldn't be doing much fighting. Especially as the only way they could get to her was if they managed to get around the guards. Considering who was on primary defense, that was highly unlikely.

Meaning she was stuck in a room near the Black Garnet tapping her foot and tilting her head at the occasional sounds of battle.

Adora sighed.

Stars, she was bored.

"Mmmr?" There was a soft touch on her foot.

Adora looked down and smiled at Fluffy. "Hey, kitty, keeping me company?" She crouched down and gave her some scritches, Fluffy leaning into them. "I'm still a bit mad at you for coming with us, even though I don't know how you did it." She told her. "This place is dangerous. Just know that these scritches are because I'm bored, not because you deserve them."

Fluffy's purring proved that the cat could see right through Adora. It was kinda annoying that even a cat didn't believe her when she lied.

Adora sighed again and leaned against the wall. Fluffy helped relieve the boredom and loneliness a little, but she still didn't like this. It made sense to save She-ra for where Shadow Weaver showed up, but she much preferred to be where the action was.

The intercom on the nearby wall beeped and Adora scrambled to answer it.

"Hey, what's up?" Adora ignored Fluffy's discontented grumbles.

"We've already finished up here!" Glimmer happily told her, excitement bubbling over in her voice.

Adora blinked. "Wait, really?" Sure, Adora had felt like she had been dying of boredom, but it hadn't actually been that long.

Somewhere near her foot, Fluffy let out a slight rumble.

"Yeah, Scorpia mentioned it was kind of weird. There were just a couple squads and their equipment seemed like it had been broken and just recently repaired. And badly repaired at that." Glimmer dimmed a bit as she relayed Scorpia's information.

Adora felt a warmth curl around her leg and Fluffy hissed.

"Poor equipment and limited numbers? When trying to mount an attack against a bunch of former Horde soldiers in a well fortified location?" Adora frowned. "They're not taking this seriously."

"Yeah, it's almost like they were - "

Three things happened at once.

The intercom shorted out unexpectedly, cutting Glimmer off.

Fluffy full out growled, prompting Adora to look down at her and see how every hair was puffed up.

And a cold, dark, familiar voice finished Glimmer's sentence. "A distraction."

Ice pounded through Adora's veins and her eyes widened. Slowly, she turned around.

Shadow Weaver chuckled at her expression. Darkness curled around her and from behind a new mask, her eyes glowed red. "Oh, Adora, I didn't think I would find you here, cowering away as your… _friends_," she spat the word out like a spoiled fruit, "fight on the frontlines. I raised you to lead the charge."

Adora's breath quickened and gripped the hilt of her sword tight as she drew it. She eyed the shadows and tried to still the fear in her heart. "I won't let you take the Black Garnet."

She had beaten Shadow Weaver once and she could do it again.

"You don't have much of a choice. I _will _be taking it back." Shadow Weaver seemed to be studying her, and Adora braced herself. "Did you really think that I would lose all my magic when I lost the Black Garnet?"

Well, Adora had certainly hoped. She didn't know how long Shadow Weaver had had it, but she'd never seen signs that she could use magic without it, even when her history as Light Spinner was taken into account. And ever since Catra had taken her spot, Shadow Weaver had kept out of the spotlight, making it easy to assume that she'd lost both her position and her powers.

It seemed like she had been wrong to assume that.

"And maybe I'll finally bring _you_ back as well." Shadow Weaver began to step closer, the shadows behind her flaring up. "I can show you exactly how _great_ you can be with your powers."

Adora would never go back to the Horde. If she hadn't returned for Catra, there was no way that she would ever do it for Shadow Weaver. Adora went to tell her just that, and then she realized.

She couldn't move.

For a moment, she thought it was just from an old, primal fear that had always been there but buried underneath the belief that Shadow Weaver was good and just. But as her eyes glanced down and around, the only part of her that could move, she noticed a red glow had encased her body.

And how many times had she seen Catra surrounded by the same glow?

She'd been caught.

"At the very least, you could give your final regards to your old friend." Shadow Weaver now stood before and she leaned in close. "Don't remember poor, little _Catra_?"

Adora had never noticed how Shadow Weaver said Catra's name like the people at Bright Moon referred to unwanted bugs or rats. She narrowed her eyes as she glared at Shadow Weaver.

"Or have you finally come to your senses regarding her?" Shadow Weaver leaned back, head cocked. "She was always holding you back, you know. I'm sure you realized this when you got stronger during your little… rebellion." Adora could sense the smile in her voice. "It's for the best that she's dead."

Trapped in her mind, Adora screamed.

Everything Shadow Weaver said was just blatantly wrong.

Catra had been at Bright Moon. Adora didn't know how, but she had undoubtedly been there. Catra had been the one to warn her that Shadow Weaver was coming. There was no way she could've ended up back in Shadow Weaver's hands in the past couple of days since.

"I should've taken care of that mongrel myself ages ago." Shadow Weaver turned in the direction of the lab. "No matter, soon I can fix everything and it will just be you and me once more." She began to glide away.

Anger surged through Adora.

No.

She couldn't just stand here.

Not now.

Not again.

Adora pushed against the power holding her in place. All she needed was a little wiggle room. Just a bit of movement.

"Don't…" Adora managed to eek out.

Shadow Weaver paused and looked back. "What was that?" A warning edged into her tone.

"Don't…talk about…Catra…like that." Adora growled, glare shining out. She just needed a bit more time. "For…the honor...of - "

The red glow intensified and grew. Adora felt her lips lock together and there was a prickling sensation on her nerves.

"Silence." Adora could still move her eyes and she watched Shadow Weaver lower her now outstretched hand. However, Shadow Weaver had stopped moving towards Black Garnet, so half of Adora's goal had been achieved.

Though Shadow Weaver's attention was now fully on her, and that was never a good thing.

"Perhaps I've been too soft on you in the past." Shadow Weaver began to return to Adora's side. "I can see now," her arm came back up, "that it's about time I gave you a real punishment."

If she could gasp, Adora would've as the prickling increased and started to pinch.

"Adora, I always told you that - !"

A yowl interrupted Shadow Weaver and all Adora could see was a brown blur launching itself at her. Shadow Weaver screamed and Adora was abruptly released from the magic. She gasped and fell onto her knees, her legs shaking too much to hold her weight. As soon as she caught her breath, she looked up and her eyes widened.

Fluffy had attacked Shadow Weaver. She was a whirl of fur, claws, and teeth as she latched onto Shadow Weaver's face.

Shadow Weaver was struggling to get her off, batting at her and grunting in pain, but she couldn't get a good grip.

Adora hated that Fluffy had to fight, but she couldn't pass up this opportunity. She adjusted her grip on her sword, and brought it up. "For the honor of Grayskull!" Adora blinked as the power of She-ra washed over her, transforming her. She fell into a ready stance.

And not a moment too soon. As Adora felt the transformation ending, Shadow Weaver caught Fluffy in the red glow of her magic and tossed her into the wall. Fluffy slid down to the floor and was worryingly still.

"No, Fluffy!" Adora called out to her, but a blast from Shadow Weaver immediately called her attention back to her.

From that point on, Adora barely had a moment to think as she dodged each blast of magic from her former mentor. She had to keep her sword in its shield form just to make sure she didn't get hit with anything. Shadow Weaver's spells often caused either pain or were aimed at mental damage, and with the intercom broken and Fluffy down, Adora couldn't afford to get hit by any.

And it was working to. As Adora watched, she could see that Shadow Weaver was tiring, her movements becoming slower the more they fought. Adora grinned.

She was winning!

Or so she thought until she was immediately hit by a web-like spell that trapped her to the wall. Adora grunted as she tried to push it off, but it was stuck to her shield and was pinning her arms to her chest, leaving her unable to get the proper leverage.

"I taught you better than to fall for such easy feints." Shadow Weaver tried to appear confident, but Adora could see the way she wilted slightly. The fight had had some effect on her at least. "Now wait here, and I'll properly discipline you when I get back." Shadow Weaver turned toward the door, intent on her mission once more.

Adora struggled harder. If Shadow Weaver got to the Black Garnet, it was game over.

There was a hissing whine that stopped Shadow Weaver in her tracks. Adora craned her head to look past her, and she breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Fluffy standing in the doorway, guarding the way to the Black Garnet.

Adora could just sense Shadow Weaver narrowing her eyes at the cat. "Move."

Fluffy growled and shifted into a fighting stance.

Adora's eyes widened. "No, Fluffy! Get out of there!" She wasn't about to let her cat get killed! Shadow Weaver wouldn't hesitate to remove her by any means necessary. She pushed against her shield and the webs harder, but they still wouldn't budge.

Shadow Weaver chuckled. "It's just a little varmint." Red magic gathered in her hand. "Easily disposed."

"No, Fluffy, don't - " Adora blinked, because there was an almost knowing gleam to Fluffy's eyes. If she didn't know better, she'd say that she was smirking.

An orange light took over Fluffy's body. Shadow Weaver reared back in shock as the small form grew and grew, and Adora's eyes widened when the light dispersed and the Fluffy she had come to know was gone.

In place of of small cat was a huge, feline beast. Her head would come up to Adora's chest if she'd been standing next to her - while in her She-ra form. Light brown fur had darker brown stripes cutting across it, though her ears, tail, paws, and snout were all solidly the dark brown. The only truly fluffy part of her was her scruff around her neck.

Adora blinked yet again. She wondered if this was how people felt when they saw her transform. "Fluffy?" She called softly, and though Fluffy's ear flicked in her direction, the cat-beast's blue and gold eyes never left Shadow Weaver.

And Shadow Weaver's reaction quickly drew Adora's attention.

She staggered back away from Fluffy, her hands trembling at the sight before her. "No…" She whispered to herself. "Impossible…"

Fluffy crouched down, eyes narrowed and her behind wiggling slightly.

"We destroyed all of you!"

Without any more hesitation, Fluffy pounced with a snarl leaving her lips.

She was fast, from what Adora could tell, Shadow Weaver just barely dodging the lash of her claws. Fluffy seemed to fluidly move from place to place, but there was power behind it. Adora anxiously watched the back and forth; Shadow Weaver always had something up her sleeve.

And Adora saw it coming as Shadow Weaver's hands began to glow again, just as Fluffy leapt at her. "Watch out!"

It was too late for Fluffy to dodge while in midair. However, Adora watched as that orange light once again overtook Fluffy. She sighed, expecting her small form to easily fall below the attack's range.

But this time, as the light faded, Adora found her breath catching in her throat.

Even Shadow Weaver's eyes widened before they narrowed once more.

Fluffy had taken a new form once again and easily avoided Shadow Weaver's attack. She crouched on the floor, having landed on her feet, still tense and ready to fight. Slowly, she stood up.

Pointed fangs flashed through smiling lips. "So…" She chuckled. "Bet you thought you'd seen the last of me?"

Shadow Weaver let out a sharp breath. "You…"

"Hmph." Catra tilted her head. "Guess who's back?" She grinned as she cracked her wrists and unsheathed her claws.

All Adora could do was stare.

Finally, after all this time, Catra was before her.

Except… she'd been here all along.

Fluffy was Catra. Catra was Fluffy.

Thinking back, the signs had all been there. Every move, every gesture had screamed Catra's identity at her, but Adora'd just brushed it off as a coincidence. After all, that's supposedly just how cats are, even if it did remind her of her friend.

Still, despite this new knowledge, Adora found herself studying Catra, drinking in her appearance even as her heart felt as though it would simultaneously fly into the sky and burst into pieces.

Catra looked different. Her clothes were mostly black, though her shirt had a dark red as well. Her shirt had one full sleeve covering her right arm, but her left had no sleeve but was covered in a bandage that wrapped around almost the full length of her arm. Wrapped around her waist was a belt of the same shade of dark red, though the buckle showed the symbol of a crescent moon crossed with a sword. On her chest, where her Force Captain badge had once rested, the symbol of the Defiant now shone.

But the biggest difference was her hair. Without her head guard, her bangs flopped to cover her forehead, but that wasn't the greatest change.

Catra's hair had been cut short, the wild ends falling to somewhere between her chin and shoulders.

All in all, Catra looked surprisingly good for someone who'd been suspected to be dead. Like, really good.

And she hadn't really been gone.

Adora wasn't sure how she felt about that.

"Hey, Adora." Adora jumped as much as she could at the sound of Catra's voice, and her eyes darted up to meet Catra's, but her sights didn't stray from Shadow Weaver. "What are you doing?"

"Uh…" Adora really wished that she had something more intelligent to say. Especially since Catra looked so cool, standing there with her hand on her hip and the other held up in anticipation as she cracked her fingers. "I'm stuck."

Catra sighed the sigh of the long suffering. "Adora." She said. "You have a sword."

"Ah." Adora flushed as she turned her shield back into a sword and she easily cut through the magical webs. "Sorry about that." She chuckled awkwardly as she came to stand at Catra's side.

Catra gave an amused huff. She finally glanced over at Adora, her lips tugging up into a smaller smile that had always been reserved just for Adora.

And suddenly, it was just like old times.

"Remember when we used to sneak into the simulator in the middle of the night? Just the two of us against whatever we could cook up?" Catra whispered softly enough that Shadow Weaver wouldn't overhear.

It took a moment, but Adora grinned at the memory. "Just like back then?"

Catra returned the grin. "Exactly."

Shadow Weaver had gathered herself back together enough to fight again. "Catra." She growled. "I should've killed you years ago."

"And I'm surprised Hordak let you out of your cell." Catra snorted and rolled her eyes, then she fell into a fighting stance. "Then again, I suppose he was desperate for _someone_ to fill in as his second, and even a failure can be good enough."

"As if you can talk to me about failure!" Shadow Weaver snapped, and she threw her shadowed magic at them.

Adora and Catra rose to meet it head-on.

Fighting with the other princesses, with even Glimmer and Bow, had taken a lot of hard work and training. It had been slowly learning from each other and figuring out what worked and what didn't.

Fighting with Catra was as natural as breathing.

When Catra surged forward to attack directly, Adora covered for her, for once easily able to shift her weapon between sword and shield. Catra did the same, leaping around to fill in whatever gaps Adora left in her guard. There was an ebb and flow to their fighting, an ease and compatibility to their personal styles, that could only be born from two people who'd known and fought together for their whole lives.

Adora couldn't help the grin that grew on her face.

Plus, with two targets, Shadow Weaver had to split her focus between them and it wasn't going so well for her. She had seemed tired before, but now it didn't seem to be a bluff to throw Adora off. Her blasts were getting limited and weaker, and Adora could see the way she panted from the exertion. It looked like they had finally run her down.

Catra seemed to think so too. "Getting tired?" She smirked, but still eyed Shadow Weaver cautiously. After all, a cornered enemy tended to lash out, so Adora made sure not to drop her guard either.

Shadow Weaver was quiet, eyes narrowed as she glanced between the two of them. "This _isn't_ over." She hissed, raising up her hand and enfusing herself with magic.

Catra's eyes widened. "No!" She leapt, but it was too late.

Shadow Weaver dissolved into shadows and was gone.

Catra quickly whirled around to Adora. "Quick, make sure she didn't head to the Black Garnet!"

Adora followed the order without question. However, a quick check around the Black Garnet's room showed no odd shadows or other signs of Shadow Weaver. She quickly walked back, and gave her report, "Looks like it's all clear…" She trailed off as she saw Catra leaning heavily against the wall, one hand clutching her head and the other curled into a fist. "Are you okay?" She asked as she hurried over.

Catra grunted. "Yeah, I'm just - " There was that flash of orange and suddenly the cat Adora had known as Fluffy was at her feet. Another flash returned Catra back to normal. "Trying to stay normal here." Catra huffed from the effort it took to maintain her form. "Ugh, I was doing so well this time."

Adora's brow furrowed as she watched Catra transformed into the cat-beast and then back again. She hadn't thought to question it in the moment, but now it occurred to her that it had been a possibility that while everyone was worried about her, Catra had just stuck around in cat form just because she could. That didn't look like the actual case though as another flash reverted Catra back into cat form.

Pounding footsteps in the hallway startled Adora and she quickly relaxed as Glimmer, Bow, Scorpia, and Entrapta fell into the room. "Adora!" Glimmer frantically glanced around. "Oh my stars, I was so worried when the intercom cut - Catra?!" She yelled and Adora realized that at some point Catra had turned back to normal.

"Catra!" Scorpia grinned at the sight of her friend but it changed into a frown as an orange flash turned her back into a cat. "Wait, Fluffy?"

Another orange flash and the cat-beast was back. Glimmer, Scorpia, and Bow jumped in shock, but Entrapta's eyes widened and she clapped her hands together.

"That's it!" She cried. "Magicats!"

An orange flash and Catra was back. "What?" She managed to get out before she turned back into a cat.

"This is… Magicats… hmmm… you should have…" Entrapta mumbled to herself, as she quickly pulled out a tablet and quickly began typing on it. "But what could - the head guard!" Her head snapped up and looked around. "We need her head guard!"

"What is _that _supposed to do?" Catra was back, and then she was gone again.

"It's in my bag…" Adora said, but she didn't get where this was going.

"On it!" Glimmer teleported out and was back again with it in hand. "Now what?"

"She has to wear it!" Entrapta shouted.

"What?!" Adora glanced down at Catra, who was the cat-beast again. "Why?"

"Catra! Turn back to normal and have Adora put your head guard on!" Entrapta ordered.

"Here!" Glimmer tossed her the head guard.

Luckily, just as Adora caught it, Catra managed to turn back to normal, so Adora just jammed it right on her head without another thought.

For a second, all of them were still, waiting for the telltale orange flash. Then another second passed, and another and another.

And then Catra frowned and readjusted her head guard so it was sitting properly and not shoving the tips of her bangs into her eyes.

"Catra!" Scorpia couldn't hold back anymore and she raced across the room to scoop Catra up into a hug. Entrapta followed and scampered up Scorpia's side to join in on the hug.

"Ugh, guys…" Catra groaned but she made no move to push them away, instead accepting the affection.

"We were so worried!" Scorpia was sobbing now, and Catra managed to slip one arm out to pat her on the back.

"I know." She whispered. "I'm sorry."

With the danger past, Adora finally returned herself back to normal, swinging her sword onto her back as Bow and Glimmer came up beside her to stare at the scene before them.

"So, Catra was Fluffy this whole time?" Glimmer asked.

"Yep." Adora admitted.

Glimmer was quiet for a moment before she scowled. "I _knew_ that cat knew exactly what she was doing…" Her voice quieted into grumbles, but Adora turned to Bow, who was just staring, dumbfounded.

"Bow, you okay?"

He slowly turned to Adora. "I swear, when we played that game, I really did not know that Catra could really turn into a cat."

Adora blinked. She'd completely forgotten about that game they'd played with the other princesses. "Yeah, I never thought you did."

"But I was right!" Bow whispered, a mix of shock and awe. "How many other things do you think I could be right about?"

"Well, I don't think the Horde's gotten any dragons…"

"Shh!" He put his finger on her lips and glanced around as if someone was trying to listen in. "Don't say things like that!"

"Uh huh…" Personally, Adora didn't think dragons were going to become a reality any time soon.

"Still," Glimmer sighed, "I guess it's good she's back, right?" She glanced at Adora with a knowing smirk.

And suddenly, the conversation the three of them had had earlier hit Adora like a tank missile. She blushed as her gaze returned to Catra, who was finally being released from Scorpia's grasp.

"Yeah, but now what?" Bow asked what they were all thinking.

Adora's eyes met Catra's, and as Catra quizzically tilted her head at her, she felt the blush on her face deepen.

Now what indeed.

* * *

_AN: Yeah, so the fight with Shadow Weaver and Catra's reveal was the second thing I thought about when I came up with this fic and I am so happy to finally write it (the first thing was pretty much the entire Hordak and Catra confrontation in the first chapter). I'm glad that already in the show Adora and Catra have had their own small victories over Shadow Weaver (though it does appear that SW still knows how to hit Catra's buttons from that clip released), but I would love if someday, given how much Shadow Weaver tried to drive a wedge between them, the two of them fight and hopefully eventually defeat her together. It'd just prove that they can overcome what she tried to do together and how strong they are._

_In regards to Shadow Weaver's powers, it may seem like she's lost all of them from what we've seen in the show, but she used to be the leader at Mystacor, and it looked like she was able to almost consume the Black Garnet's power to make herself powerful (though from the sounds of it, she grew to rely on it more and more until the show's present day). I think maybe she could do that with other magical items or runestones, which is why she's able to gain powers to fight once more, even if she's not as powerful as she once was._

_Also, I contemplated having last chapter end with Catra's "guess who's back" last week, but I wasn't done writing it and considering I wanted to end this chapter exactly where I did, it actually flows a lot nicer when I include the full fighting Shadow Weaver sequence in one place._

_So as many of you guessed, Fluffy was Catra. Most of the stuff about Magicats and all that's been going on will be explained next time, but a lot of you have been on the right track both in terms of powers and conditions of what's been going on. You all are great. Next time will basically be winding down on the fic, with exposition and some final puzzle pieces slotting into place._

_I did have to add that thing about the game they seem to play where Catra turns into a cat like in the old show because after seeing that clip it was just too perfect not to mention._

_Also, some of you have asked if I'm going to write stuff that's after this fic, but actually some of the stuff I wrote for Femslash February was meant to take place after, though I had to leave out some elements that I meant to have be a surprise in this fic, like the name that Catra and the other defectors took up as well as Catra's powers._


	9. Chapter 9 - Been Far Away

Chapter 9 - Been Far Away for Far Too Long

Queen Angella looked decidedly unimpressed on the other side of the screen as she looked all of them over.

"You know," she commented mildly, "if you had told me that your friend, Catra, was a Magicat, I could've cleared this all up a long time ago." She sighed into her hand. "Then again, I suppose I should've guessed from her name."

Catra looked equally unimpressed from where she was seated in the center of their group. "Look, your majesty." She rubbed at her forehead as if staving off a headache. "I've never even heard of the term 'Magicat' before today." She frowned. "I mean, Old Lady Razz told me that there were others like me and the whole transformation thing was 'natural' but that was about it." Her nose wrinkled. "Or at least that's the jist of what I got. She's, like, one part wise, two part crazy, and all around cryptic."

Adora could attest to that.

"I've never heard of Magicats before today." Glimmer pouted a bit. "Why didn't you tell us when you first saw her, Mom?"

The queen gave her daughter a Look. "I've never met Catra face to face before today." She deadpanned. "Even when she's attacked, we've always ended up on opposite sides of the battlefield. I've only heard of her through all of you."

They all glanced at each other as they realized that that was true.

Catra snorted, bringing her hand down and tapping her fingers on the table. "And I'm sure you've heard some _glowing_ testimonies about me." She mumbled.

"Actually, I have."

Catra blinked, obviously surprised that she'd been heard. However, she quickly covered it up and turned to Entrapta. "And you've heard of them before?"

"Yes, but I only read about them a long time ago. It's not like I ever met one before." Entrapta tilted her head as she thought back. "And at the time, I never thought I would."

Adora's brow furrowed. It wasn't the first time someone said something to that effect. "What do you mean by that?" She asked.

Both Scorpia and Entrapta looked away, and on the other side of the screen, Queen Angella, Netossa, and Spinnerella looked particularly morose.

"What?"

The queen sighed before she answered. "The Magicats were a kingdom of warriors. Proud, stubborn, intelligent, and very skilled at whatever they put their minds to."

Adora tried very hard not to look at Catra. That description suited her to a T.

"It was said that Magicats had three forms: their normal forms which were the only form that most would ever see, fairly humanoid but with the distinctive ears, tails, and claws of the Magicats; a stealth form that was said to be unnoticeable and untraceable by all forms of magic; and a power form that increased their instincts, strength, and speed to take out any opponent."

Adora blinked. If Catra's stealth (Fluffy) mode was really untraceable by magic that would explain why it had been so hard to find her, even with Castaspella's magic imbued into Entrapta's tablet. The one time it had worked must've been when she wasn't in that form.

Actually, that lined up with when Catra had apparently managed to turn back to try to warn them about Shadow Weaver.

"Their powers wouldn't awaken until puberty, and then while they were getting used to the ability to shift, they had devices that would help them maintain whichever form they wanted." Queen Angella frowned. "Or at least that's how it seemed. Magicats were also well known for their secrecy and distrust of strangers."

Again, way too many similarities between the Magicats and Catra.

Catra frowned and adjusted her head guard. "Huh. This must be broken then. I've tried but I can't shift at all now."

"Most likely they stole it and then tampered with it so that you would be stuck and unable to use your powers." Entrapta leaned over and poked at it herself.

"Think you can fix it?" Catra asked, turning towards her.

Entrapta's eyes sparkled. "Can I?"

"Yeah, sure." Catra chuckled and sent her a grin before turning back to the screen. Her smile abruptly dropped. "You still haven't gotten to the point."

Queen Angella paused for a moment, pain flashing across her face, but she continued. "They had very good reasons for their secrecy, historically, but because of that, not many were prone to trust them. They were usually neutral when it came to conflicts, only getting involved if they had to, and usually just to protect themselves and their own. This did not change even when the Horde arrived. They only engaged when attacked, and even then, they were more than powerful enough to hold back the Horde.

"At least until their princess, a mere baby at the time, was stolen, taken from them by the Horde."

Adora's eyes widened and a stunned silence fell upon all of them. And then Adora pointedly did not look at Catra.

Because there was no way, right?

Catra, unsurprisingly, was the one who broke the silence. "What?"

The queen sighed and sat back. "The Horde took their princess and said that they would hold her hostage to force the Magicats to side with them." She shuddered. "I had never seen Tigra so furious. Magicats were very protective of their young, and for her own daughter to be taken…" Her eyes gazed off into the distance. "It took half of our guards to hold her back from going straight to the Fright Zone and ripping Hordak to pieces when the news was given."

"So they gave in, right?" Glimmer frowned, but her eyes crinkled in sympathy.

A slight pause. "No."

Adora's eyes widened. "They what?!" She screeched, because that was just - how could they - "They just abandoned her?!"

A glance showed her that Catra's hands had curled into fists.

"That was not their intention." Queen Angella continued. "Tigra made it clear that while she could not give into the Horde's demands, she would not abandon her daughter. She planned on mounting a rescue operation to get her back.

"But the Horde expected that. They attacked while the Magicats were making their preparations. By all accounts, it appeared that they slaughtered all of them.

"And before the blood had even begun drying, they announced that they had actually killed the princess. Negotiating with them would have been pointless anyway."

Adora's stomach churned. That was just… revolting. And yet she could easily imagine Hordak, or more likely Shadow Weaver, arranging just that. Shadow Weaver's skills would've been essential to steal their princess right from under their noses.

Adora looked over at Catra's stony face, but it didn't give off a hint of what she was thinking. At least, not until she actually spoke.

"But you don't think that's it, do you?" Catra's eyes narrowed, her gaze calculating.

The queen met her head on. "As I said, they were known for their secrecy. There always seemed to be a lot more of them than could be contained in their small kingdom. And rumors have always abound that their true kingdom is hidden from outsiders. Plus, their runestone was never recovered." She leaned forward. "And if their princess managed to survive, who's to say they didn't either?"

Queen Angella said what they were all thinking.

Catra hummed and didn't comment on that, instead looking over at Scorpia, who shuffled guiltily. "And you knew about all this, too?"

Scorpia looked away. "I heard the rumors of the massacre back when it happened, but I learned the particulars during Force Captain Orientation." She abruptly brought her claws up as if building a defense. "But I'd never seen a Magicat before to know what they look like, I swear! I thought they were just giant talking cats! I never would have imagined that you were one, much less their princess - "

"Supposedly." Catra interrupted with an almost bored look, but one peek at Catra's eyes told a different story if you knew her well enough. "Ugh, will the Force Captain Orientation never stop haunting me?" She asked so quietly that Adora wasn't sure if it was actually directed to anyone. Then, she spoke back up, "Anyway, there's not really enough evidence to confirm it."

Queen Angella frowned. "If you look at the circumstances - "

"Yes. It does look extremely likely." Catra said dryly. "But that's all we have to go on. Circumstantial evidence. They could have easily killed the princess and picked up a random Magicat kid while they were killing everyone." She nonchalantly shrugged. "I mean, that's how most of us end up in the Horde, I don't see why I'd be any different."

Adora's brow furrowed. Sure, it wasn't like what Catra said was completely wrong, but still…

"In any case, the Magicats aren't really our concern." Catra said, straightening back up and putting on her business face.

The queen frowned. "It isn't?"

"No, whether they survived in a secret city or not, they have not chosen to reveal themselves. Taking advantage of people thinking you're dead is a good strategy, and if they are still alive, then they probably won't do so until they are sure of their chances at victory. Until then, it's best not to worry about it."

Queen Angella hummed slightly and conceded the point with a nod. "Well, then, is that all?"

"Not quite." Catra said, standing up from her seat and bowing slightly. "I wanted to thank you for all of your support for Scorpia, Entrapta, and the rest of the Defiant. We wouldn't have been able to get this far without you."

Queen Angella blinked in surprise before her face softened into a smile. "I suppose we shall be seeing more of each other from now on."

"Probably." Catra sat back down. "That was all. I've been keeping tabs on what's been going on as best I could, but we should most likely review things later."

"Very well. I shall make the arrangements." The queen nodded. Her eyes moved to Glimmer. "And Glimmer, let me know when the three of you decide to come back."

Glimmer scowled but nodded. "Yes, Mom."

"Until next time." Queen Angella gave one last nod of farewell and then the screen went black.

Adora breathed a sigh of relief. She'd been unsure how the queen would react to everything, but luckily, she had taken pretty much everything in stride. She guessed that there were some benefits to being an immortal queen.

And despite the occasional rough language, Catra had been surprisingly diplomatic. She actually sounded like a leader.

Even her demeanor spoke of that of a leader as Catra sat back in her seat, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Speaking of things I've been wondering about…"

They all turned towards her.

Catra's face became completely deadpan. "Fluffy? Really?"

Adora resisted the urge to smack herself in the face. Really? That was her question?

Glimmer, on the other hand, started snickering. "Oh, my stars, we reallly - " Her snickers turned into giggles. "We really were going around calling you - pft! - Fluffy!"

As Catra sent her a flat look, Entrapta piped up. "Well, Fluffy was the name we eventually chose based on Scorpia's suggestion."

"What?" Catra's ears flattened as she spun to Scorpia. "Why Fluffy?"

"But - you were just so fluffy and soft! What else was I supposed to call you?" Scorpia shrugged.

Actually, that was the whole reason why the rest of them had gone along with the name.

"Besides, it was way better than Adora's suggestion."

Adora whirled at the betrayal. She thought that they had all agreed that they would never mention the name she'd offhandedly suggested. "I said that was a joke!"

Unfortunately, Catra looked way too interested at this turn of events. "Oh? Adora had a suggestion?" Her ears and tail perked up.

"No! It was a joke!"

"Oh, yeah?" Bow snickered as well. "It didn't look like you were joking."

Glimmer was full out laughing at her and even Entrapta had a playful smirk on her face.

"Okay, so Adora's suggestion - "

"Don't say it!"

" - was Catra, Jr.!" Scorpia informed Catra with a smile.

Adora hid her face in her hands as Catra stared blankly at Scorpia. However, she soon felt her gaze fall on her instead. She risked a peek and flinched at the almost pitying look.

"Catra, Jr.?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "Y'know, Swift Wind was right."

Adora blinked. "What? What was Swift Wind right about?" And when had he and Catra even had a conversation?

"You are the absolute worst at names." Catra finally broke and cackled. "I mean, seriously, I thought Horsey was bad, but Catra, Jr.?" She nearly fell over from how hard she was laughing.

"It - you - she reminded me of you!" Adora protested.

"That _was_ me!"

Adora felt her face turning red. Okay, so maybe that name hadn't been her best attempt, but she'd only been about 40% serious. It mostly had been a joke.

Still, as she watched all of her friends laughing, it did settle something inside her that she hadn't even known was restless. Against all reason, a smile grew on her face.

"Uh, Catra?" There was a knock on the wall next to the door.

All movement abruptly stopped.

Catra stood up and faced Lonnie at the door. "What is it?"

"I have the summaries of all the activities the Defiant have taken up so far and a list of what still needs to be done. At least, according to the original plan." Lonnie stepped into the room and handed Catra a tablet with all the pertinent information.

"Thanks, Lonnie." Catra started scrolling down the screen, eyes darting as they took in everything. She glanced back up and gave a wry smile. "Sorry, duty calls."

"Ah, right, we have to finish installing and testing the defenses we didn't get done before the attack!" Scorpia tapped her claws together as she remembered.

"Oooo! I have a few ideas to make them even better using the data from the attack!" Entrapta launched into a ramble as she and Scorpia made their way out of the room.

Catra made to follow them, already engrossed in her work on the tablet, but she paused in the doorway and looked back at them. "You guys can just relax if you want since I don't think the Horde will attack again anytime soon. If you really want to help with something, I think Lonnie's got the best idea of what needs to be done right now."

Bow jumped at the chance. "C'mon! I haven't had a chance to check on my friends from the kitchen yet!" He dragged Glimmer out, leaving Adora and Catra alone.

Instantly, Adora felt tongue-tied. Since beating back Shadow Weaver, this was the first time the two of them had been alone. She didn't know quite what to say when so much had happened.

_Why didn't you try to find a way to tell me you were here even if you were stuck as a cat? How did you feel when you first transformed? How are you dealing with this? What all even happened to you? There are so many gaps in this story…_

_Are you okay?_

But none of the questions passed her lips, and Adora found that she couldn't look at Catra.

A sigh finally prompted her to glance up. Catra wasn't looking at her either. "Look, I have to go over all this and see if there's anything major to fix up around here." Catra gestured with her hand holding the tablet.

"We'll talk later, okay?"

With that, Catra left as well, the flick of her tail as she rounded the doorway almost seeming to wave goodbye.

It was several seconds after she left that Adora finally managed to speak.

"Okay."

* * *

Adora went through the halls of Dryl, silently fuming.

_"__We'll talk later, okay?"_

That's what Catra had said.

Several days had passed and they still hadn't talked.

Well, technically they had talked. Strategy meetings, conference calls with Bright Moon or their other allies, general meetings had happened with both Catra and Adora present and occasionally arguing about what the Horde's next move could be. Unsurprisingly due to her previous position, Catra had a lot of insight as to how the Horde generally moved and what Hordak could be plotting. Adora knew it'd make her invaluable in the future.

In addition to that, within just the few days since arriving, Catra had easily dealt with most of the hiccups that the Defiant had been experiencing. Entrapta and Scorpia had done a decent job in her absence, but there had still been many problems. Now though...

Security concerns had been locked down, people had been organized into groups according to what they wanted to do, and ways to explore their new freedom had been opened to everyone, even the ones who still wanted to fight. In short, Catra had taken the hot vulnerable mess that was the Defiant and managed to make it functional in no time at all.

Meaning that there had been no time for her and Adora to sit down and talk.

And with the Defiant being back on track, Adora, Bow, and Glimmer were no longer needed. They'd be heading back to Bright Moon in the morning.

Adora scowled. She knew she shouldn't be mad, because Catra had been busy and rightfully so, but still…

She really felt like she and Catra needed to talk.

To make matters worse, Bow and Glimmer had not been the slightest bit helpful. They kept giving her Looks whenever Catra's back was turned and they were in the same room. Stars, after one particular meeting Bow had winked at her and flashed her a thumbs up. It brought their conversation before everything went down right to the forefront, and that was even less helpful.

Adora sighed, but she waved at Fluffy sitting at the opening to a different hallway and bathing herself as she passed. "Hey, kitty…" She rubbed her head, trying to figure out what she was going to do about all this.

Then she paused.

She remembered.

And she whirled around to stare at Catra, who was staring at her like she was stupid. "Catra, what are you - " Adora cut off her question as she knew Catra couldn't answer her like this. She was confused though. Entrapta had said she'd discovered the problem with Catra's head guard that restricted her powers and fixed it, so Catra shouldn't be get stuck in cat form again.

However, Catra had her own way of getting a message across, even like this. She threw a weighty glance at Adora and then turned on her heel, dashing away into the darkened corridor.

Naturally, Adora chased her.

It was almost like the games that they had played when they were younger. Catra always somehow managed to be one step ahead of Adora, a hint of her tail being the only indicator of her changing directions as she led Adora through the twists and turns of Dryl. Adora had no clue where they were going, but luckily, Catra seemed to.

At one point, a subtle flash of orange made Adora pick up the pace. She thought for a moment she'd find Catra smirking at her as she turned the corner, but instead she found a door. She frowned, but opened it to find that she was on the roof of the main part of Dryl's castle. Still, she wasn't at the highest point yet as she glanced at the sentry tower that was only accessible from this entrance and smirked.

Some things never changed.

With the help of a grappling hook, Adora quickly made her way to the top of the sentry tower and she was rewarded with the sight of Catra's back to her as she sat on the far side, feet dangling over the edge.

"Hey, Adora." Catra didn't turn to greet her, but she didn't need to as Adora came over and sat down beside her.

"Hey." She settled herself, but to her dismay, she found her tongue just as frozen as she had the other day. Her chest felt like a mess of tangled knots over what she definitely felt for Catra and what she could possibly feel but she didn't know how to word any of it. This was so awkward and though Adora didn't know all that she wanted, she knew she didn't want this.

Things had never been awkward between them.

Luckily for Adora, Catra had never been one to beat around the bush.

"I know." She said, looking out over Dryl to where the sun was beginning to sink down low in the sky.

Now Adora's entire body froze, not just her tongue.

How? How could Catra know? Even Adora hadn't even known that her feelings could be greater than friendship, how could she know?

_Then again, no one ever had to tell Catra the Horde was evil. She's a lot more observant than I ever gave her credit for. She probably knew before I - _

"I - you - how?" Adora managed to stammer.

Catra snorted and rolled her eyes. "You told me."

No, she certainly hadn't.

"Or at least, you told 'Fluffy.'" Here Catra made air quotes just to emphasize once more how stupid she thought that name was.

But Adora also knew that Fluffy had been nowhere near Adora for any of the conversations she'd had about this.

Adora was sweating.

"Well - I - "

"I know you missed me, Adora."

Huh?

Adora's mind went blank for a moment, and then she was hit with sudden relief.

Catra didn't know her biggest secret.

This was acceptable.

Catra huffed in amusement and leaned back on her hands. "I really never expected you to miss little old me, especially after everything that happened."

"I've missed you since Thaymor." Adora admitted softly.

Catra hummed at that, and silence descended between them, but it didn't feel as awkward this time.

"You do know that things can't go back to how they were between us, right?" Catra asked suddenly.

Adora's heart sunk, and she looked away, but… "Yes, I know."

"Yeah, I was kinda glad that you were finally getting a clue about that."

Catra and Adora had been best friends, but as Adora had been realizing lately, things between them had not been as great as she had thought at the time. Besides, they'd both changed since then, grown up separately and differently. There was no way they could ever truly go back.

"And in any case," Catra continued, not showing any indication of knowing about Adora's inner turmoil, "just because I'm not with the Horde anymore doesn't change anything. It doesn't change what happened between us or what we've done to each other. And I…"

Catra reached out a hand towards the setting sun, her expression more pensive and yet honest than Adora had ever seen her. "I've done things, Adora. Terrible things to stay in Hordak's good graces. I can't change that."

"You're trying to make up for it. That's the first step." That was the entire reason why Adora had taken up the role of She-ra. She had wanted to make up for just being a part of the Horde.

But even if she didn't know the full extent, she knew that Catra had probably done worse.

"I hurt you. On purpose, and not all of it was due to orders." Catra's hand dropped and curled into a fist as she looked in the opposite direction of Adora. "And sometimes when I think about how you left, I just - " She ran her hand through her hair.

"Yeah, I can get that." Maybe it wasn't the exact same thing, but when she thought about how Catra had literally left her hanging in the temple and some of the other stuff she had done, she would sometimes just get filled with a mix of pain and anger and she would have no clue how to deal with that.

"So I'm just telling you outright: this is going to take time." Catra finally turned to her, her features serious as she glanced over Adora's face. "Thanks for looking after me during all this, but it's going to take a while before I can - before we can - "

It took a few seconds for Adora to get it.

Catra wasn't quite ready to declare them friends just yet.

Which was… fair. A lot had happened between them, a lot of things on both sides that they had to make up for before they could even begin to touch the underlying issues that were between them.

Part of Adora wanted to shout and stomp her foot, because she wanted them to be friends again already! They were finally on the same side! And maybe then they could be…

But Adora had been the one to leave first. She couldn't be the one to dictate how far Catra was willing to let her back into her life again. Just like Catra couldn't decide how much Adora was willing to do the same. Not to mention that there was still a war going on, and Adora had her She-ra duties and Catra had an entire group of people to lead.

Whether she turned out to be a princess or not, Adora had seen how the members of the Defiant looked at Catra. She had become a true, respected leader. She was needed here.

"Okay." Adora bowed her head in acceptance. "You're right." Following Catra's lead here felt like the right thing, though it was not something she had done much of in the past.

Catra stared at her for a long moment, before she cracked a grin at her. "Wow, how painful must it have been to say that." She joked.

Adora nudged her shoulder. "I've admitted you were right before."

"Yeah, but that's only been recently and you said it to a cat you thought couldn't talk back to you."

Adora's face paled as she suddenly realized all the things she _had_ admitted to Fluffy.

Catra laughed at her expression before her face softened into that smile that had always been just for Adora. "This is the best place to watch the sunset." She said, looking ahead to the borderline where day yielded to night. She offered no other explanation but she seemed to be waiting for Adora to say something.

"Really?" Adora guessed it made sense as there couldn't be too many places to view it with the way they were in the mountains.

"Yeah, so shut up and watch."

So Adora obliged. Neither of them said anything else that night, even once they had gotten down from there and parted ways for bed.

Something had changed once again, though Adora couldn't put her finger on it. Something had shifted between the two of them, but Adora didn't think it was a bad thing. It was like they had cut off some of the dead and diseased branches from their friendship so that way they could continue to grow instead of dying.

Their roots were old and sturdy but things had become gnarled as it had grown up at some point. They were getting rid of that to start anew.

Now there could be a chance for them to flourish.

And that wasn't a bad thing, even if it wasn't at the pace that Adora wanted.

As Catra helped send them off the next day with a grin and Scorpia and Entrapta by her side, Adora knew that there was no way that this was bad.

Catra was well and truly back.

She wasn't dead, she wasn't missing, she wasn't completely stuck in the form of a cat because she didn't know how to control her powers.

Even though she'd be at Dryl, Catra was just a call away.

The two of them could move forward like this.

And they had always fought better when together.

Adora smiled.

Hordak wouldn't know what hit him.

* * *

_AN: It's 2 AM so I'm going to bed right after posting this as I have work tomorrow morning, but I really wanted to get this done before the new season dropped and potentially busted some of my personal headcanons, if they even came up this season._

_But yes, I do subscribe to the Princess Catra theory. It has a lot of potential though I think._

_And for now, since they do have a ways to go and a lot of issues to work through, Catra and Adora aren't going to get together in this fic. They need to really work to even be real friends again, much less romantic partners. They're currently in a weird limbo of being allies and former friends who used to know each other like the backs of their hands and want to be friends again but they have done a lot of crap to each other so it's weird._

_Also, if you're wondering why Catra isn't pussyfooting around with how she feels about their current relationship, it's because she's learned from her past experience that with Adora, you have got to be upfront about this kind of stuff._

_Anyway, thanks for reading! I know a lot of you were waiting for some genuine Catra and Adora interactions so I hope you're satisfied._


	10. Chapter 10 -Like Dark Turning Into Day

Chapter 10 - Like Dark Turning Into Day, Somehow We'll Come Through

Catra stared down at her target and she couldn't help the wry grin that crossed her face.

The last time she'd stared down at Bright Moon like this, she had planned on conquering it.

She snorted. _How times have changed…_

They weren't even expecting her until tomorrow, but she'd left Dryl early so she could stop by Razz's place and check on the old lady. The last time she'd seen her the two of them had taken a walk and stumbled across an old Horde base that Adora had demolished. Upon seeing Shadow Weaver there ordering troops to assemble what supplies they could scavenge and using her magic to just barely glue tanks together to make their next assault possible, Catra hadn't even taken the time to say goodbye and immediately raced to Bright Moon to try to warn them.

Of course, that had been made all the more difficult by her inability to control her transformations and maintain her normal and cat-beast forms as well as the apparent lack of paper and pens in Adora's room. Catra had no clue how that girl found anything useful in there.

Luckily, Razz had been the same as ever. She'd certainly seemed pleased to see her though and had patted her on the head before breaking out the snacks and tea.

Catra had ended up staying through dinner, a lot later than she had planned. Night had fallen and Catra contemplated all that had happened as she noted the almost faint glow the palace had in the wash of moonlight.

Catra was tired though, and she certainly didn't want to sleep out here. She'd had enough of that before Razz had found her half-dead body lying somewhere in the woods and taken her in to let her heal and get some cryptic advice about the whole transforming thing. At the same time, it was probably late enough that it'd be bothersome to get someone to open up Bright Moon's doors and find her a place for the night.

A smirk settled on her face.

Well, she had her own ways around that.

In a flash, Catra was in her cat-beast form, a thrill zinging through her heart as she rushed down towards the castle, quickly gaining speed. By the time she got to the walls, she'd gained enough momentum to easily jump up onto them, her claws catching on the stone. In another flash, she was back to normal, and her added dexterity and flexibility let her move from foothold to foothold that she had found dotted along the castle's outside until she reached a vent that lead into the castle's main room. With a flash, she was small enough to simply walk through it.

Once she was inside, she simply stayed in her cat form. None of the patrolling guards batted an eye at her, too used to her presence like this and probably not realizing the significance of who and what she really was. It made it all too easy to make her way to Adora's room.

Actually getting into Adora's room could be a bit tricky. It seemed that since moving to Princess-ville Adora had learned how to lock her door at night. It'd been a pain before when Catra had wanted to get in even without the added problem of not having opposable thumbs. She'd found a workaround that, too.

Adora's door may be locked, but the rooms above hers certainly weren't.

Catra slipped into the room above Adora's and ran to the window. With another flash, she was back to normal and she swung herself into Adora's room, deftly landing on her feet.

She smirked again as she rose to her feet. Catra had figured out the routes to get to Adora's room while she'd been stuck in her cat form, but it was so much easier now that she could control the shifts at will. Sure, she needed her head guard for now to lock into her form, but eventually she knew she'd get it down.

Her face settled into a frown as she looked around. She hadn't gotten a good look at the place while she was normal, even if she had gotten used to it from a much shorter perspective. Catra snorted as she looked around. Things in Bright Moon were really fancy, weren't they?

_And apparently safe enough for Adora to let her guard down_, Catra thought as she rolled her eyes at the way Adora was snoring away on her bed. She hadn't even stirred at Catra's presence, something that used to bring her to the surface of her dreams though Catra knew she'd made no sound getting in here. Her frown deepened as she moved to watch over her old friend.

Why was Adora's bed here even smaller than the one they'd shared back at the Fright Zone?

Catra had wandered through plenty of bedrooms here at Bright Moon; she knew pretty much all of the bedrooms here had cushy beds that were a dream to lay on.

Maybe Adora was just weird like that. Just like how she slept with a knife under her pillow, just in case, but Catra could at least understand that sentiment.

Catra sighed and began to scoop up some of the loose pillows scattered about to make her own makeshift bed, when she paused. She looked at Adora again.

Adora's bed was smaller than the one they used to share. There was no way she could fit on it as her normal self. However…

There was plenty of space if she turned into a cat.

Catra tapped her foot as she thought it over.

She had slept with Adora before, both as herself and in her cat form, but when she was a cat, Adora had been unaware of who she really was and Catra had mainly done it because Adora had been crying left, right, and center and it was the best method she could think of to get her to relax and chill for a bit. As well as the only thing she could do as a cat. Plus, Adora had been crying over _her_ of all people and it just hadn't felt right to just leave her hanging when she was actually right there in front of her.

Not to mention that part of her had… missed the comfort and warmth that came with sleeping with another person. Especially when that person was Adora.

Scorpia loved cuddles, and Catra was fine with accommodating her when she wanted to snuggle. Catra knew that when she wanted some physical affection, Scorpia was always there with open arms. However, Scorpia did not make a good sleeping buddy.

The few times when they'd fallen asleep together, Catra had woken up either due to Scorpia squeezing her too tight in the middle of the night or Scorpia flopping over in her sleep and Catra ended up crushed under her bulk or with her tail whapping her in the face. Scorpia was always apologetic about it in the morning, but it wasn't really her fault. They just weren't compatible as sleeping buddies.

Entrapta was better in some ways. Her hair was soft to the touch and despite the perpetual smell of oil and melted iron, she was okay to sleep with. She wouldn't reach out, she wouldn't kick you, and Catra could just curl up around her and fall asleep.

The problem was actually getting Entrapta to sleep.

Catra didn't know if Entrapta was capable of running around on fewer hours of sleep or if she just managed to find places to sleep where no one could find her, but the times she'd slept with Entrapta were few and far between because of how rare it was to find her actually sleeping.

So really, it was a no brainer that of course Adora was the best sleeping partner she'd ever had.

It more came down to what sleeping with Adora would signify.

Catra looked out the window, avoiding looking at Adora's stupid sleeping face.

Part of her was still mad about the past, about Adora leaving and treating her like an extra, an afterthought, when she had already made her decision. However, Adora had made a lot of strides when she thought Catra was gone or dead and she seemed to finally be getting things from her perspective. And Catra knew that she'd done a lot to her as well that she had to make up to her. This was on both of them, and they each had things to feel guilty over.

And admittedly, Adora was trying.

For once, she was letting _Catra_ define what their relationship was. She was letting _Catra_ decide the pace of their reconciliation.

Adora had never done anything like that before.

Adora was allowing Catra to set the terms and have control of their relationship.

That, more than anything else, was what settled Catra's decision.

With a flash of orange light and a small hop, Catra curled up in the divet of space between Adora's arm and chest.

This wasn't because they were friends or anything like that again. Catra was tired, and she just wanted to get to sleep. She tended to sleep better when she was with someone else, so it was only natural to choose Adora to sleep with here. She needed to be at the top of her game. Adora was the person she knew best in Bright Moon, and even with her other usual options, she was the best choice if Catra wanted a decent amount of sleep.

So she didn't really react as Adora gave a soft sigh of contentment and wrapped her arm around her body. She certainly didn't snuggle closer to Adora's warmth and allow herself to truly relax for the first time in a long time. And she certainly didn't let out a small purr of approval as she began to drift off to sleep.

This was all so she could get a good night's rest and be fully refreshed for tomorrow's work.

Though she could admit, as she fell asleep, that maybe, just maybe, despite knowing what was going on, despite being right there the whole time -

Catra had missed Adora, too.

It hadn't been her intention when she'd decided to leave the Horde and take everyone she could with her, but this was a consequence that she had absolutely no problems with.

(And if in the morning, Catra woke up purring to Adora's grin and some head scritches, then that was just because her instinctive responses were stronger in her other forms.)

(And if she let Adora introduce her as a friend, it was just because gaining allies with the other kingdoms would be easier if she had a clear, positive connection to She-ra and Adora.)

(And if the next time Catra snuck into Adora's room she found that Adora's bed was the same type as before, but now big enough to accommodate two people even when Catra was normal, then that was none of their business.)

(Because Catra was fully prepared to handle anything that came her way.)

(And even if she didn't want to admit it, she and Adora had always been stronger together, because that's simply how they worked.)

(They'd always been connected, whether for good or bad, and this time they were fighting for what's right.)

(And because of that, along with all the others, Catra couldn't help the feeling that this time, they'd win.)

* * *

_AN: So Catra's decided to take the next step forward in repairing her relationship with Adora. And now, they're on the same side! (Though admittedly, Catra can't admit all of this out loud. It'd make her way too vulnerable to talk about feelings like that.) Still, it's progress. I think that if Adora let Catra control how their relationship gets repaired, it'd be huge because Catra needs to have control. She's been rendered powerless so often that it would help her feel safe and secure and watching season 1 again, it was really obvious that previously Adora dictated a lot of their relationship. So Adora giving up that control to her would go a long way in fixing things between them._

_Though they aren't fully there yet, that'd take more work._

_But admitting that she missed Adora too and wanting the comfort that she used to feel with her is a good start for Catra._

_ Thank you so much for reading this! It's been a while since I wrote a large multi-chapter fanfic like this (especially when I didn't have all/most of it written before I even contemplated posting it)._


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